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CULTURE

Swedes depart church in droves

Swedes continue to turn their backs on the Church of Sweden with new figures indicating that the longer term fall in members has now started to hit baptisms and weddings.

The Church of Sweden has experience a steep and continual decline in the number of confirmations, worshippers and members since 2004, but until now baptisms and weddings have helped to boost church attendance figures, and revenues.

“We have left the homogeneous society,” said Jonas Bromander at the Church of Sweden to the newspaper.

The church was long the venue of choice for Swedish wedding couples but the figures, presented in the church newspaper Kyrkans Tidning, show that the proportion of weddings performed by the Church of Sweden has now fallen from 53.9 to 40.9 percent from 2004 to 2009.

Even baptisms, long a popular symbolic gesture of church membership among Swedes, have also declined dramatically in popularity, dropping from 68 to 56 percent over the five year period.

Over the ten years since the church was separated from the state, the proportion of the population retaining a membership of the church has fallen from 82.9 percent to 71.3 percent, with 73,400 people leaving the church in 2009.

Jonas Bromander forecast that the fall in the faithful would continue and settle at around 60 percent in ten years.

“This is the time curve in a situation that is very much shaped by our history. We see similar curves for all the churches that are associated with a majority culture and where religion has become something that we face as an active choice,” said archbishop Anders Wejryd.

Even if the decline appears set to continue, Wejryd considers the church’s confirmation work.

“I am extremely happy that each autumn we are able to scrape together 40,000 young people. There is no other organisation that is able, not within sport not a political party youth league,” he said.

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CULTURE

Daddy cool: Swedish dads go viral as boy band

Five Swedish fathers singing capella pop songs while taking care of their young children have taken social media by storm, with their videos garnering tens of millions of views.

Daddy cool: Swedish dads go viral as boy band

The five men, all in their 30s, film their “Dad Harmony” sessions while hanging out with their kids at home in the northern town of Skellefteå.

“This story all started at my bachelor party” in the summer of 2022, Peter Widmark, a 33-year-old who works in sales, told AFP in an interview. “We were hanging out and singing as we usually do when we hang out… (and) my brother filmed it and put it on TikTok with his seven followers.”

The next morning the dads discovered the video had been viewed 40,000 times. The number had skyrocketed to 20 million hits worldwide within a few weeks.

The five friends decided to start posting videos regularly, shot in their kitchens or on their sofas, often holding their little ones on their laps.

Singing the chorus of Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah”, one of the dads can be seen holding his weeks-old newborn in his arms.

“It’s a soothing thing when we sing,” Widmark said, explaining why the children are usually so calm in the videos.

‘Typical Swedish guys’

“We are typical Swedish guys,” said Widmark’s brother Tomas, who is also part of the group, adding it was “not that unusual” for men in Sweden to spend a lot of time with their children.

“Almost every guy in Sweden is used to taking paternity leave so it’s not a big deal for us,” he added.

Each of the dads has two kids.

Dad Harmony’s repertoire includes hits by Michael Jackson, the Beatles and popular Christmas songs.

Since the end of November the group has been on a month-long tour criss-crossing Sweden to perform live shows each weekend – albeit without their kids.

During the weeks, they go back to Skellefteå and continue to work at their normal jobs and spend time with their families.

The members of Dad Harmony in an interview with AFP. Photo: Viken Kantarci/AFP

“I just stumbled on their video on Instagram and I was mesmerised,” said Louise Elgström, a 41-year-old fan who attended a recent show in the town of Norrköping.

She said their appeal lies in the fact that “they feel so natural and also (that they are) involving their children”.

The dads vow their success won’t go to their heads. “No televisions flying from the hotel rooms!” joked band member Sebastian Åkesson.

But the group has big dreams: they hope to line up tour dates in the United States and Asia, and say they would love to sing with Elton John one day.

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