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This year’s Advent celebration at the Church of Sweden takes place in many ways online. Digital worship services present the church with the challenge of reaching out to the elderly, but technology can also make the celebration more accessible.
The picture shows Priest Sam Douhan recording a service at Uppsala Cathedral during this year’s Easter celebration.
It is the crown pandemic that makes it difficult to celebrate Advent in the Church of Sweden. But thanks to digital solutions, the rule that a maximum of eight people can participate in public meetings is avoided.
– It is a way of inviting and getting people to participate and participate without physically visiting the church, says the communications manager of the Church of Sweden, Pia Dahlén.
On Sunday, churches in many parts of the country offered webcasting services and concerts, including a “singing” concert in Umeå, an Advent concert with the Linnaeus Quintet at Uppsala Cathedral, and a video on Facebook showing a nativity scene in Bromma Church in Stockholm.
– There are quite a few challenges. In part, it’s not always very easy to set up lighting and sound. On the one hand, there are legal requirements that those who appear in the broadcasts must give their permission, says Dahlén.
Another challenge is reaching out to older people who sometimes have a harder time accessing digital services. At the same time, Advent celebrations are becoming more accessible to at-risk groups, people who live far from a church or have difficulty finding enough time.
– In the Church of Sweden, we often think in geographical areas, as a member you belong to a parish because you live in a certain area. But this is not how the digital landscape works, where it is completely free and you can visit which parish or church you want digitally. It will be a curiosity and a mobility, says Dahlén.
