Conflict dynamics in greening processes: the case of Swiss churches

Religious organisations are arguably becoming more environmentally friendly. While there has been an increasing research focus on ‘religious greening’ processes, the role of conflicts in these processes has so far only received limited attention. This article studies conflicts in religious greening processes in Christian churches in Switzerland. It draws on 25 semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives of congregations and Christian Umbrella Organisations (UOs) within the Catholic and Reformed Church in Switzerland. In recent years, there has been a rise in environmental engagement within these two churches. However, this development has been uneven, in part due to internal conflicts in congregations and external conflicts in relation to UOs and broader society. This article uncovers four types of conflicts: implementation conflicts, legitimacy and value conflicts, authority conflicts, legal conflicts. They arise at different stages in the greening process and span across different actors and levels within the church organisations. They highlight the complexity of religious greening processes and how power dynamics and divergent perspectives on religious environmentalism shape these.