Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the largest Christian denomination in Norway and has a rich history that spans over a thousand years. Initially rooted in Norse paganism, Norway's conversion to Christianity began in the ninth century, culminating in the establishment of the Church of Norway under Roman Catholicism. The Reformation in the sixteenth century transitioned the church to the Evangelical Lutheran tradition, which remains its foundation today. As of 2017, approximately 70 percent of Norway's population were members of the church, although there has been a notable generational shift in active participation.
The Church of Norway operates as a state church, though it officially separated from the government in 2017, gaining autonomy over its clergy appointments. Services incorporate traditional Lutheran practices such as confession of faith and the Eucharist, while the church also reflects contemporary values, having voted to allow same-sex marriages and implemented a gender-neutral marriage liturgy. The church is organized into parishes, led by elected councils and pastors, and has a commitment to inclusivity, including representation from the indigenous Sami community. Despite a decline in membership, the Church of Norway continues to play a significant role in the cultural and religious landscape of the country.
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Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the largest church in the Scandinavian country of Norway. The church has existed in some form in Norway for thousands of years. For nearly six hundred years, the church adhered to Roman Catholic traditions. The church became part of the Evangelical Lutheran branch of Christianity in the sixteenth century. Approximately 54 percent of Norway's newborn population was baptized in the Church of Norway as of 2017, while 88 percent of those who died were given church burials, thus indicating a generational shift away from the church.
History
Norwegian people practiced the Norse religion, which is based in Germanic mythology, before Christianity came into the region. Missionaries from the British Isles and Germany laid the groundwork for the Christian Church of Norway in the ninth century CE during the reign of Harald I. These missionaries, who made their way into Norway after spreading their Christian message throughout Denmark and northern Scandinavia, were Christian monks, converted Vikings, and bishops traveling with Norwegian royalty.
The Christian conversion of Norway took several hundred years. During the centuries following the Christian incursion, the kings of Norway supported the conversion for spiritual and political reasons. King Olaf Haraldsson was one of the first rulers to accept the faith for his kingdom in the eleventh century. The Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 played an important role in achieving mass Christian conversion throughout Norway. King Olaf died in this battle, and his death motivated the Norwegian people to turn against their old beliefs. Olaf was later canonized as the country's first saint.
Olaf's noblemen and successors continued to develop the Church of Norway following his demise, erecting buildings and places of worship. Denmark incorporated the Church of Norway into the Province of Lund in Sweden in 1104. In 1153, the Church of Norway joined the Diocese of Nidaros, which included Sweden, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, the Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man. The move firmly established the Christian conversion of Norway, adhering to the Roman Catholic tradition for hundreds of years up until the Reformation.
King Christian III of Denmark and Norway brought Reformation attitudes to the region after converting to the Lutheran faith in the sixteenth century. Following in the footsteps of a number of North German monarchs, Christian III made the Evangelical Lutheran faith the official religion of Norway and Denmark in 1537, taking control of church leadership. The king hoped the transition would strengthen the union between Norway and Denmark. The conversion forced the Church of Norway's archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, to flee the country. Engelbrektsson's exit was a defining moment in Norwegian church history, as it marked the swift conversion that flooded the country thereafter. Christian III imprisoned several other Catholic bishops, while many converted to the Lutheran tradition. Most priests also quietly transitioned to the new practices and rituals, making the conversion a fairly peaceful one. By 1600, all Roman Catholic symbols, customs, and rituals were banned, and Lutheranism had fully taken hold of the Church of Norway. Norway became an absolute monarchy in 1660, and the government maintained control of the church from that point forward.
Over the next few centuries, the Evangelical Lutheran faith continued to permeate the bulk of religious Norway. A Lutheran revival movement known as Pietism, which focused on individual virtue and a strict devotion to leading a good Christian life, spread throughout the country for a short period in the mid-eighteenth century and again in the nineteenth century before dissipating. The Norwegian Constitution of 1814 made Evangelical Lutheranism the official state religion, though some Norwegians continued their Roman Catholic practices.
By the twenty-first century, about three-fourths of the population was baptized into the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway. In 2012, however, parliament announced Evangelical Lutheranism was no longer the official state religion. The move solidified the Norwegian government's intention to separate church from state and gave the Church of Norway more control over its appointment of clergy members. The Church of Norway remained a state church, however, and continued to receive state funding.
This situation changed, for the first time in almost five hundred years, however, when it was announced that as of January 1, 2017, the Church of Norway and the state would be officially separated. Therefore, the church's clergy would no longer be government officials under the king's appointment and the church itself would be considered an autonomous business entity. While this move was historic, some argued that the separation would still not be rigid enough because of the constitutional provision that names the Church of Norway as the national church. At the same time, this change came amid increased immigration to the country and questions about how to handle different religions, particularly concerning those from Muslim-majority countries.
Around the same time, in August 2016, the Church of Norway launched a website enabling people to opt into or out of membership. According to the International Lutheran Council, that year 41,000 people resigned from the Church of Norway while another 3,200 joined; those who departed included both more conservative "confessional Lutherans" and those who no longer believe in Christianity.
Also in 2016, the Church of Norway voted to allow same-sex marriages within the church and the following year approved a new gender-neutral marriage liturgy.
Beliefs
The Church of Norway follows the Evangelical Lutheran tradition of professing an apostolic, Christian faith based on the Bible. Church of Norway services involve confession of the five creeds, or religious principles, by the congregation and eating of the Eucharist, or symbolic bread and wine. The five creeds include the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Augsburg Confession, and Luther's Small Catechism. The church added the last two creeds during the Lutheran reformation. The congregation also expresses faith through hymns sung in the Norwegian language.
According to the Evangelical Lutheran interpretation of the Bible, God's message is about total faith and forgiveness. Evangelical Lutheran doctrine teaches that all humans must atone for the sins of their ancestors. The teachings also state that the scripture of the Bible has final authority on all matters of faith. According to the Church of Norway, God gives humans grace through scripture, baptism, and the Eucharist. Through God's grace, humans reach salvation, which is deliverance from sin.
Organization
As of 2017, Statistics Norway estimated that around 70 percent of Norway's population belonged to the Church of Norway. Each church is organized into parishes and presided over by a pastor and an elected parish council. As of 2015, the country had over 1,200 parishes and around 8,000 elected parish council members. The Church of Norway has allowed women to become ordained as clergy members since 1961. As of 2015, women accounted for 25 percent of the 1,200 clergy members in the country, and four out of twelve bishops were women. Each year, the Church of Norway's general synod meets to discuss ways to promote greater unity among the churches. The synods consist of laypeople appointed by church members and clergy. Representatives from the indigenous Sami people also attend the gatherings.
Bibliography
"About: Basics and Statistics." Church of Norway, 16 Feb. 2015, kirken.no/nb-NO/church-of-norway/about/basics-and-statistics. Accessed 2 Feb. 2017.
Agence France-Presse. "Norway Goes Secular, Removes Lutheran Church as State Religion." National Post, 24 May 2012, news.nationalpost.com/holy-post/norway-goes-secular-removes-lutheran-church-as-state-religion. Accessed 28 Aug. 2015.
"Church of Norway." Statistics Norway, 4 June 2018, www.ssb.no/en/kirke‗kostra. Accessed 25 Jan. 2019.
"Church of Norway." World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/church-of-norway. Accessed 28 Aug. 2015.
Fouche, Gwladys. "Norway's Lutheran Church Embraces Same-Sex Marriage." Reuters, 30 Jan. 2017, www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-gaymarriage/norways-lutheran-church-embraces-same-sex-marriage-idUSKBN15E1O2. Accessed 25 Jan. 2019.
Melton, J. Gordon and Martin Baumann. Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. ABC-CLIO, 2010.
Norway 2017 International Religious Freedom Report. US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2017, www.state.gov/documents/organization/281188.pdf. Accessed 25 Jan. 2019.
Silva, Cristina. "Christians in Europe: Norway Divorces Protestant Church as Muslims Blamed for 'Parallel Societies.'" International Business Times, 28 Dec. 2016, www.ibtimes.com/christians-europe-norway-divorces-protestant-church-muslims-blamed-parallel-societies-2466375. Accessed 2 Feb. 2017.
Willson, Thomas B. History of the Church and State in Norway: From the Tenth to the Sixteenth Century. Forgotten Books, 2015.