Präststudenternas och verksamma prästers uppfattning om språkliga förberedelser inför sin predikogärning

This essay was written in order to elucidate how the priests-to-be and working priests experience the preparation for preaching during their training and if their identity as preachers depends on their preaching; how they refer to rhetoric and what the preparation training looks like. There is no Swedish research within this field, and even the existing international studies concentrate mostly on writing preparation within other occupations, e.g. economics, health care and public sectors. These studies also show that there are several discrepancies between the university preparation for professional writing and speaking and the professional discourse. In order to carry out the investigation the author has interviewed priests-to-be and working priests and examined the syllabi for homiletics and rhetoric. The result of this analysis offers a better insight into the nature of the training in preparing sermons that Swedish priests obtain during their professional education. The author refers to the results of other scientific investigations concerning preparation for professional writing and speaking and concludes that there are similar difficulties within the priest training, e.g. the discourse and the receiver of the sermons produced within the vocational training differ from the ones in the professional live. The investigation shows even that the training has changed during the last decades, from being theoretical towards a more practical one, with a stronger link to rhetoric. Since both priests-to-be and working priests agree that their professional identity is highly dependent on their preaching, the preparation they obtain within the university training seems insufficient. A possible solution to this problem could be longer practical vocational periods and additional practical training ingrained in the professional discourse