“The goal is to get them to heaven, but until then we want them to have it better” : A qualitative study of social work in the free churches of Sweden

This study examines the motivations and goals of Swedish free church pastors engaging in social work, as well as how pastors view their churches’ social commitment in relation to public social work. Seven semi structured interviews were conducted with eight pastors from six congregations in two counties in southern Sweden. The empirical data gathered was processed with thematical analysis, from which six themes were identified: Faith as a motivation, Practical Christianity, Denominational heritage, A better world, Spreading the faith and A compliment to the public sector. The results of the study were analyzed with Antonovsky’s theory of salutogenesis, with a focus on the concept Sense of coherence. The theory aims to explain why people stay healthy even though they meet hardship in life. The conclusions of the study are that the pastors are motivated by their faith in the Bible and in Jesus and how he met with people. The pastors’ goals with social commitments are to make a better world and for people to come to faith in Jesus. In relation to the public sector the pastors regard themselves as a compliment. Utfördes online via Zoom