This article presents three events within the Church of Sweden during the 1920s that significantly influenced public media reporting and debate. These examples illustrate how the Church of Sweden both shaped and was shaped by perceptions and expectations regarding its role during an early phase of Sweden's modernization. The selected events highlight issues that resonated with a large part of the population at the time. They include the debate surrounding, first, the anthology The Spiritual Current Situation and the Church (Det andliga nutidsläget och kyrkan, 1919), second, the controversy over the hymn book 1920, third and briefly, the media coverage of the 1925 Stockholm meeting. Looking back a century later, it becomes clear that many of the issues from that transitional period remain relevant today, despite the considerable changes in both the church and society. In a concluding comment, the article reflects on the lessons that can be drawn, seen from the perspective of an unconditional historical distance.