The church receives the nob more often, but not at death

The number of funerals in the Church of Sweden does not decrease as much over time as in other ceremonies. Stock Photography.Image: Tomas Oneborg / SvD / TT

The proportion of baptized children has halved since 1970. During the same period, the proportion of confirmed 15-year-olds and the number of marriages in the Church of Sweden has also decreased significantly.

The statistics speak for themselves, more and more people are choosing not to participate in the ceremonies in the Church of Sweden for life. But a ceremony seems more difficult to abandon for many: the funeral.

– Even if you have not arrived before, you will come then, we said already in the 80s, says Cristina Grenholm, church secretary for the Church of Sweden.

According to her, the number of funerals is what has always matched the number of members best.

Despite the fact that fewer people were buried according to the Swedish Church order today than 40 years ago, the reduction is not as great as in the other categories.

– Part of the explanation may be that many of the elders who are buried now are people who have in the spine to be “buried, it is done in the church”, says Barbro Blehr, professor of ethnology interested in how they are established and changed rituals. .

She believes that demographics come into play.

– If you compare the number of funerals with the number of membership in the Church of Sweden 50 years ago, you can see that they correlate, says Barbro Blehr.

Unlike weddings and baptisms, funerals are often not elective and cannot be postponed.

– We don’t have to get married and we don’t have to have a ritual for a new child, but we must act when someone has died, says Barbro Blehr.

Another explanation is that a church funeral is a more familiar and familiar alternative, she believes.

– It is a stronger position to opt for a civil funeral.

A third possible explanation is that the church stands out as a professional actor in grief, even when it comes to deaths or accidents that don’t just affect an individual family, he says.

– If you think about it, you can say that funerals do not lose ground as quickly as baptisms and weddings because it is a rite that really works for people, who they trust when they are grieving, says Barbro Blehr.

Church secretary Cristina Grenholm has one more explanation.

– There is an order at the funeral that you do not have to invent yourself and I think it is a great strength for many. One can follow an order that has been around for generations.

She believes that the need for funerals according to the Swedish Church order will continue to be great.

– I hope people continue to choose church funerals because it is so obvious that then we need the light and hope that the church talks about. Although you don’t usually think like that in everyday life, we see that it helps people in their pain, says Cristina Grenholm.