The Relationship between Corinth and Grímsey

Diaconia from an Arctic Perspective

Abstract

Abstract
Academic attention to the Arctic regions of the world has been increasing in the past decades. This interest is connected to human emissions and activities which have led to climate change and melting ice, with a global impact. Interdisciplinary studies connected to the northernmost regions of the world are called Arctic Studies. In a new book on ecumenical diaconia, the World Council of Churches has mapped diaconal activities in the context of nine regions of the world. This article adds the tenth regional context to the diaconal map, which is the context of Arctic diakonia. The focus of the article is the region that used to belong to the Danish-Norwegian empire, from Greenland to Sápmi. The article asks what kind of difference an Arctic context makes in defining Icelandic diakonia and ministry of the deacon in the Lutheran Church of Iceland. The article uses diaconal theories on the importance of local context, mission and equality between periphery and center to analyze Icelandic diakonia, as ordained caritative and educational ministry. The article introduces selected diaconal research connected to Arctic regions. The research indicated that it is important not to romanticize the Arctic, but rather acknowledge the impact of colonialism and the methods of mission, give room for the lost trauma stories to be told and heard, and to show resistance against extractivism in the Arctic.