Gjerstad Church ( no, Gjerstad kirke, locally: ''Gjerstad kjørke'') is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the Church of Norway in Gjerstad Municipality in Agder county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. It is located in the village of Gjerstad. It is the church for the Gjerstad

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

which is part of the

Aust-Nedenes prosti This list of churches in Agder og Telemark is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark in Agder and Vestfold og Telemark counties in southern Norway. The diocese is based at the Kristiansand Cathedral in the ci ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or reside ...

) in the

Diocese of Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth largest ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1848 by Lars Listøl using plans by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Christian H. Grosch. The church seats about 500 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1400 (''Gerikstadir Kirkje''), but the church was likely founded around the year 1300. The first church was a stave church located about to the southeast of the present location. Historically, the parish of Gjerstad included the nearby areas of Vegårshei and Søndeled (which also included Risør. The parish was based in Søndeled from the 1100s until the 1400s when the headquarters of the parish was moved to Gjerstad. In 1737, the old church was torn down and a new church was constructed on the same site. The new long church measured about . The builder of the new church was Søren Knutsen from Arendal. In 1745, the areas of Søndeled and Risør were separated to form their own parish. During the 1760s, several repairs were carried out on the building, including work on the bell tower. In 1814, this church served as an election church ( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

later that year. By the mid-1800s, the municipal council looked at the fact that there were over 2000 residents in the parish and seats for only 389 people in the church, so it was far too small. They wanted to nearby double the size of the church, so after standing for nearly 150 years, plans were begun to replace the building. Site work began in 1842, and construction on the building began in 1844. The new church was constructed at the top of the nearby hill, about to the north-northwest of the site of the old church. The new church was consecrated on 23 January 1848 by the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Jacob von der Lippe and it wasn't put into regular use until mid-1849. The old church was used until the summer of 1849 when it was torn down and its material was sold. The

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

south of the present church is where the old church was located. In 2004, the church was renovated and restored to its original look.

Priests

There have been many priests who served at this church over the years. This is a partial list. *Axel Pedersen (around 1552) *Gude Pedersen (around 1561) *Laurs (unknown dates) *Peder Jensen Holt (1578-1607) *Erik Olsen (unknown dates) *Lauritz Nilsen (1614-1620) *Erik Fredriksen Lindland (1621-1657) *Bent Pedersen Amdal (1657-1695) *Hans Pedersen Høllen (1695-1708) *Hans Lauritzen Scavenius (1709-1716) *Peder Olsen Horster (1716-1745) *Johan Joakim Markmann (1745-1750) *Lars Larsen Eskildsen (1750-1784) * Hans Mathias Abel (1784-1803) * Søren Georg Abel (1803-1821) * John Aas (1821-1867) *Lortenz Ditlev Krog (1867-1872) *Jørgen Christian Andreas Grøner (1873-1890) *Georg Pharo (1890-1899) *Knud Christian Jarl Møller (1899-1910) *Ragnvald Cornelius Knudsen (1910-1912) *Henrik Lehmann (1913-1930) *Ivar Glette (1930-1952) *Gunnar Bjarne Gundersen (1953-1959) *Karl Trygve Lehne (1959-1968) *Arne Johan Sørensen (1969-1974) *Ravn Madland (1975-1980) *Gerhard Falk Woie (1981-1993) *Nils Peder Kjetså (1993-??) *Olav Hofsli (dates unknown)

Media gallery

Gjerstad kirke 20120826-16.JPG, Front entrance of the church Gjerstad kirke 20120826-17.JPG, Side view of the church Gjerstadvatnet 1.jpg, View of the lake Gjerstadvatnet with the church in the upper right corner Gjerstad kirke, Aust-Agder - Riksantikvaren-T179 01 0169.jpg, View of the church in the late 1800s Gjerstad kirke 20120826-01.JPG, Interior view of the church Gjerstad kirke 20120826-03.JPG, Altarpiece Gjerstad kirke 20120826-04.JPG, Baptismal font Gjerstad kirke 20120826-07.JPG, Organ in the back balcony Gjerstad kirke 20120826-08.JPG, Pulpit

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Gjerstad Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1848 14th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Priests

Media gallery

See also

References