In this article the last decade’s changes in the organisation of the Church of Sweden is discussed. Ekstrand takes his starting point in Max Weber’s theory of rationalisation and argues that organisational change in the 21st century has led to an ends-rational, disenchanted and bureaucratic church structure. A church that operates along bureaucratic lines cannot do justice to the personal character of the gospel. The church is therefore caught in the unintended logic of bureaucracy, which Ekstrand, following Max Weber, identifies as the iron cage of modernity.
In the article, Ekstrand argues that a contemporary and relevant ecclesiology for the Church of Sweden needs to promote a reenchantment of the Church. Reenchantment implies that the bureaucratic development be partly reversed, and various forms of charismatic authority be allowed to play a larger role. Ekstrand argues that a less bureaucratically organised church has to be a much smaller church. The development towards a minority position for the Church of Sweden should therefore be welcomed rather than resisted.