Intercultural Ecclesiology (PhD project) - A practical theological study of lived ecclesiology in intercultural encounters in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark
A practical theological study of embodied ecclesiological reflexions of intercultural encounters in local congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, motivated by demographical changes due to immigration and a shift to practice in theological research. A multi-case study of three local churches, where immigrants are taking part in the congregational life. Qualitative research methodology consists of participation observations and semi-structured interviews. The cases will be analysed from an operationalized concept of ecclesiology as procedural dynamics of interacting, reflecting individuals in concrete practices in the churches. I expect the research to be capable of nuancing the existing systematic ecclesiology from an ethnographic perspective, and to challenge the existing, ethnographic ecclesiological field, which most often operates within mono-cultural localities with a polyphonic input from a diverse reality.