Visions of success, visions of failure: Dynamics of churches in Czechia and Slovakia in the context of restitutions
Abstract
How do churches in Czechia and Slovakia reflect on the future? How do they invest and manage their resources and land? How do they see their role in society? These are a few of the questions answered in this collective monograph written by anthropologists, sociologists and economists who have studied the Czech and Slovak churches in the post-restitution era.
Eight chapters offer a snapshot of what is happening in the churches of three denominations: the Roman Catholic Church in both countries, the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia, and the Baptist Brethren in both countries. For a better understanding, the book includes chapters that summarize the changes in the legal norms affecting churches and religious societies and their financing in then Czechoslovakia and today's Czechia and Slovakia as well as the development of media debates around the churches, restitution and separation from the state.
Anthropological chapters capture the changes in church life both internally and externally: How do these churches and their members think about their place in society in the context of changes to church funding? Attention is given to new trends-investments in financial instruments and sustainable agriculture.
The book further offers readers insights into the lives of diverse church communities, and, last but not least, the situations described can be used as practical inspiration in other communities, not just those of churches.
Churches behave differently in different situations-in terms of funding, as non-profit organizations; in a school, as inspiring founders; in the forest, as businesses; in the financial markets, as investors; and in remote regions, as cultural institutions. The book demonstrates that these different ways do not have to be in conflict.