An Immanent Turn in Protestant Spirituality

Over the last fifty years, Nordic Lutheran churches have integrated holistic practices such as meditation, yoga, and sacred dance into daily church life, drawing on Eastern traditions, folk religiosity, New Age influences, and secular wellbeing approaches. These practices are not peripheral but serve as vehicles for spiritual progress, holistic care, and community building. The article argues that these innovations are part of an 'immanent turn' in Protestant spirituality ongoing since the 1970s. Adopting a bottom-up, lived religion perspective, it challenges conventional top-down theological frameworks, revealing Lutheran Christian practice as more flexible, inclusive, and connected with embodied experiential spirituality. This approach rethinks Lutheran Protestantism, highlighting personal bodily centred experiences in engagement with the world and the evolution of church practice.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of a range of new spiritual practices reshaping traditional religious expressions within Nordic Lutheran churches over the last fifty years. These holistic practices, which include meditation, yoga, sacred dance, and other creative forms of expression, integrate influences from Eastern traditions, folk religiosity including New Age practices, and secular approaches to wellbeing. Rather than existing as peripheral or fringe phenomena, these innovative practices have been woven into daily church life, serving not only as vehicles for spiritual progress but as expressions of holistic care and community building. The article argues that these practices are part of an ‘immanent turn’ in Protestant spirituality that has been ongoing since the 1970s. By adopting a bottom-up, lived religion perspective, the study challenges conventional top-down theological frameworks. It shows that when the focus shifts to laypeople’s everyday practices in local parishes, Lutheran Christian practice is revealed to be more flexible, inclusive, and deeply connected with embodied experiential spirituality. This approach encourages a rethinking of how Lutheran Protestantism is conceptualized, highlighting the importance of personal bodily centred experiences in the pursuit of engagement in the world and the ongoing evolution of church practice in contemporary society.