Scandinavian Journal for Leadership & Theology (Jan 2020)
Pastoralt ledarskap och konvertiter
Abstract
Pastoral leadership and converts: A discussion of church leadership in relation to converts and the Swedish Board of Migration The purpose of this article is to support the pastoral leadership and church ministry in relation to converts by providing knowledge and experience when leading people cross-culturally. The churches in the society of today are facing issues relating to the leadership of converts. Church leadership is culturally bonded with traditions of ministry and traditional behaviour and therefore risks jeopardizing the leadership vision in ministry. The main empirical material in the article is based on a revision of my essay “Asylum seeking converts and the catechism of the authority – a study of converts’ asylum process with the Board of Migration” (Svensson, 2017). Firstly, I will begin to address the article´s subject and then describe the essay. The aim of the essay was twofold: To understand the Migration Board´s perception of Christian faith, and to explore how the Board can work with these issues in the future with the help from the church. Through the method of content analysis, I analysed the interview protocols and discussed the results using the theoretical concepts of ”thick” and ”thin”. Further I present the essay´s results and within the area of religious studies I show that the Board of Migration has an outdated view on conversion and Christian faith. The Board’s understanding also does not reflect the scholarly study of religion. Finally, in the article I discuss the study´s result in relation to church leadership and pastoral ministry when leading converts of several cultures at hand.
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