När en kyrka rivits. En enkätundersökning om Maglarps nya kyrka

Abstract

When a Church has been Demolished. A Questionnaire about the "New Church" of Maglarp

Church buildings in Sweden have in earlier studies been ranked as very important for the members regardless of the individuals’ church activity. However, the results of this study point in another direction. The study is based on a questionnaire among Church members in the parish of Hammarlöv, distributed after the demolition of the New Church of Maglarp in 2007. This church had been taken out of use in 1976, as it was in very bad condition already then. While one sixth of the members were indifferent to the tearing down, half the members answered that they would have liked to see it renovated, but they accepted the pull-down. One sixth was positive to the demolition and only one eighth was against. Contrary to other studies, the members did not want to pay more for the renovation, and thought that the Church of Sweden on national level should be responsible for the costs. Thus the demolition was accepted as a necessary priority.

On the basis of thoughts and feelings that the demolition awoke, three groups could be identified. They reacted differently to the pull-down of the church: the traditional with regret and thoughts of what had been and who had used the church, the forward looking with a positive view onwards and feelings of leaving the church building finally behind, and the upset with strong feelings of anger, loss, bitterness and de-sacralization of the place. Their feelings were strongly related to their opinion of the demolition.

Key words: Maglarp, church buildings, church demolition, sociology of religion