The purpose of this essay is to shed light upon the ecumenical work that has been done between the Church of Sweden and the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden. The recent years of work have led to a recommendation for a certain degree of fellowship to be established between those churches. This proposal as well as other documents are analysed in the essay from an ecclesio-logical point of view, to find out how the Church of Sweden looks upon itself in meeting another church.
To structure the material, the essay has been subdivided into seven parts that is related to ecclesiology. In those seven chapters the positions of the Church of Sweden and the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden are given individually as well as in common. Questions like the im-portance of dioceses, local congregations or parishes and the national level are described. These issues all seem to relate to the structure of the ordained ministry. The different structure of the ordained ministry in the churches is not just about function but about essence and question of the sacramentality of the orders. The understanding of baptism as an incorporation into the church makes up a serious problem due to the sometimes occurring re-baptism of adults who have been baptised once as a child. This also has a certain relation to the issue of confirmation. The theology of the Eucharist raises no problems at first sight, but with regard to the administra-tion, problems emerge. In relation to service as well as communion in the local congregation there seems to be a convergence between the two churches. Both accentuate openness for others and the intention to serve the world, but this does not exclude the mystical and sacramental di-mension. The individual confession of faith is less emphasized in favour of the common confes-sion of the church. The sacramental, mystical and serving communion which is characteristic of the church is constituted by the Word and sacraments, handed over by people in ordained minis-try.
Most of the material shows, that in order for the ecumenical discussions to show results, the church has to be described with new words. The concept of "the church as sacrament" that Avery Dulles uses includes a great part of what the church is according to the studied documents. The congregation, the sacraments or the preaching should not be separated from each other. A clear connection with Christ is established through the sacraments and the Word, and this also entails existing for the world. This model includes the function of the church and its essence, and includes both the role of the co...
