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Rural Development as a Frame Analytic Challenge for Religious Communities: The Case of Rural Parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

University of Helsinki, Department of Social Psychology, Unioninkatu 37 2nd floor, P.O. Box 54, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland,heikki.pesonen{at}helsinki.fi

Kari Mikko Vesala

Department of Social Psychology, University of Helsinki, Unioninkatu 37 2nd floor P.O. Box 54, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland,kari.vesala{at}helsinki.fi

English

In many parts of the European countryside religious communities are facing serious challenges caused by changing social structures. This is also the case with the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran parishes that are in many ways affected by migration from the countryside to city areas. This development has increased pressures on the Church and its parishes to take a stand in favour of rural development policies and to contribute to the attempts to maintain and enhance the viability of rural areas. This kind of involvement is by no means self-evident because the Church has traditionally occupied a neutral and guarded position in relation to political questions. In this article the authors examine how the congregational employees deal with this potential tension and view the role of parishes, on one hand, as rural actors, and, on the other, as religious actors.

French

À travers toute l’Europe, les communautés religieuses rurales font face à d’importants défis dus à l’évolution constante des structures sociales. L’église évangélique luthérienne de Finlande n’échappe pas à ces défis qui émanent des flux migratoires des campagnes vers les centres urbains. Ce mouvement migratoire a intensifié les pressions sur l’église et sur ses paroisses afin d’instaurer des règles de développement rural et ainsi contribuer à maintenir et à améliorer la viabilité des zones rurales. L’engagement de l’église n’est en aucun cas trivial car de tout temps l’église a voulu maintenir une relation neutre et protégée par rapport aux questions politiques. Dans cet article, les auteurs examinent comment les congrégations réagissent à ces pressions et tensions, puis établissent le role des paroisses comme acteurs au sein des zones rurales, dans un premier temps, et comme acteurs religieux, dans un second temps.

Key Words: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland • frame analysis • rural development • rural parishes • secularization theory

Social Compass, Vol. 54, No. 2, 281-293 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0037768607077045


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