Bjorbekk Church ( no, Bjorbekk kirke) is a parish church of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bjorbekk. It is one of the churches for the Øyestad parish which is part of the

Arendal 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 cit ...

(

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 residenc ...

) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave C ...

design in 1884 using plans drawn up by the architect Johan Christoff Friedrich Reuter (1829-1909). The church seats about 650 people.

History

In the late 1800s, the centuries-old Øyestad Church had become too small for the parish which was located close to the quickly growing town of Arendal. Construction of the new church was approved in 1882. The design of the building was based on the design of the nearby

Stokken Church Stokken Church ( no, Stokken kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Saltrød. It is one of the churches for the Moland parish which is part of the Arendal ...

which was designed by J.C. Reuter. The church cost about to construct at that time. The new church was

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

d on 23 July 1884. Originally, this church was named ''Øyestad Church'' since it was to be the new main church for that parish and the old Øyestad Church was renamed ''Old Øyestad Church''. Those names, however, did not stick and people began to call this new church ''Bjorbekk Church'' since it was on the Bjorbekk farm and they continued to refer to the old church as simply ''Øyestad Church''. The names were later officially changed to match the local usages. Kristoffer Gunstensen carved the frame of the

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

, the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

, the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

, and a bell tower. The altarpiece from 1934 was painted by Leonard Rickhard.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Buildings and structures in Arendal Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1884 1884 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References