ABSTRACT
A festive celebration of Shrovetide in a local church within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark connotes both Danish and Christian traditions: a widespread folk celebration with festive games and costumes introducing the old Christian tradition of Lent. The church conserves the cultural heritage of the Danish majority in its church buildings, hymns, traditions, and holidays. Churches’ opening their doors to outsiders in society has reflected hospitality as a core virtue throughout the history of Christianity. In the situation in Denmark, the picture almost paints itself: In the midst of a hostile state environment, Danish church members compassionately open the doors to their churches and welcome migrants of different nationalities and religions into a hospitable environment in the church. The chapter aims to propose a plural understanding of hospitalities as intertwined in a church in which the explicit religious space of the sanctuary is not the most important space. On the tour through Gellerup church, hospitality appears in different ways.
