Baptist and Free church studies

A person’s identity, both social and personal, can be said to be constituted by several different aspects, such as gender, age, ethnicity, class and also religious affiliation. In a country like Sweden, where only a small number of youths are involved in religious organizations, it is however not necessarily uncontroversial for youths to present themselves as religiously active. To openly declare your religious commitment places you in particular collective identities, associated with certain beliefs or stereotypes that may challenge norms surrounding how Swedish youths are expected to think, behave and act. This article examines how a number of youths, active in the Christian youth organization of one of the Swedish free-churches, present themselves and their religious involvement to friends at school. The results show different strategies used for handling experienced or anticipated reactions to their involvement in a religious organization and the collective identities they may be ascribed because of it.

Streszczenie: Towarzystwo Wydawnicze „Kompas”, działające w latach 1921–
–1939, było jednym z najbardziej znanych wydawnictw oferujących literaturę
religijną, kierowaną głównie do członków Kościoła Chrześcijan Baptystów.
W jego ofercie, oprócz publikacji o tematyce religijnej, znajdowały się też liczne
kalendarze, galanteria papiernicza czy publikacje zlecane przez inne podmioty
społeczne bądź gospodarcze. Wydawnictwo „Kompas” korzystało ze wsparcia
amerykańskich członków Kościoła Chrześcijan Baptystów, a także miejscowych
przedsiębiorców związanych z tymże wyznaniem w łodzi. W związku z kryzysem
gospodarczym w 1929 r., Towarzystwo „Kompas” zostało rozwiązane, a związana
z nim drukarnia skupiła się na wykonywaniu prac zleconych.

Reformation era martyrdoms in Zürich marked the beginning of the Anabaptist movement (Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites).  From around the globe, members of these groups travel to Switzerland in search of a better understanding of their history, theology and family origins.  In 2004, reconciliation events took place wherein the Zurich city council and the Reform Church in Switzerland formally requested forgiveness, which was given, of a group of Anabaptist church leaders. Then in 2007, the Swiss government tourism authority in Emmental organized a year-long series of reconciliation events. This paper will examine the impact of the events in 2004 and 2007 on inter-group relations in the light of some relevant aspects of conflict resolution theory.  An interface with tourism and pilgrimage research is suggested through the concept of reconciliation tourism.