The Deanery of Strandebarm (), also known as the "Church of Norway in Exile" (), was originally an independent conservative

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

established in 1991 by priests who broke ties with the state church, the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

; in 1997 they claimed the status of a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. It functioned as a network of priests and congregations led by

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

activists

Børre Knudsen Børre Arnold Knudsen (1937–2014) was a Norwegian Lutheran priest noted for his anti-abortion activism. Together with Ludvig Nessa, he staged protests at abortion clinics starting in the late 1980s, and he spent time in jail for refusing to pa ...

Per Kørner Per Kørner (26 April 1936 – 27 September 2018) was a Norwegian priest and anti-abortion activist. Kørner was a missionary priest in South Africa from 1966 to 1978, and parish priest in Strandebarm from 1981 to 1991. He broke with the state gov ...

and

Ludvig Nessa Ludvig Nessa (born 11 December 1949) is a Norwegian priest who has been noted as an anti-abortion activist since the late 1980s. Nessa was defrocked from the Church of Norway in 1991, which led him to co-found the independent Deanery of Strandeb ...

who rejected what they claimed was the

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

direction of the Church of Norway. In 2012/13 the group split into the

Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway () is a Lutheran diocese in Norway, founded in Kautokeino (village), Kautokeino in 2013. Branched out from the "Deanery of Strandebarm, Church of Norway in Exile" (formerly the Deanery of Strandebarm), the bi ...

and independent "exile church" elect-congregations.

History

The Deanery of Strandebarm (named after the parish and village

Strandebarm Strandebarm is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The original municipality was large, spanning both sides of the central part of the Hardangerfjorden. It also included the island of Varaldsøy. Over time, the municipa ...

) was established on

Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...

1991 by priests Børre Knudsen, Ludvig Nessa and Per Kørner. They ordained Kørner, the priest in Strandebarm as dean. The three led the deanery after that, with Knudsen having a particular responsibility for

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

, and Nessa and Kørner for the southern parts of the country. In 1997 priests Arne Thorsen and Olav Berg Lyngmo joined the deanery, and Kørner ordained Knudsen bishop of the "Church of Norway in Exile". The deanery considered itself as a branch within the Church of Norway that had abandoned the supervision of the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

, the Church Meeting, and the Church's officially appointed bishops. It opposed several of the Church's points of view, most importantly on

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, and re-marriage after a divorce without legitimate reasons. The deanery neither recognised female priests. It supported a complete division of the Church and the Government. The deanery consisted of around ten congregations spread across Norway. Børre Knudsen retired as bishop due to failing health in 2008. In 2012 priest Thor Henrik With was ordained as new bishop for three elect-congregations in Northern Norway, later also for a congregation in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. Kørner and Nessa did not accept With as bishop as they considered his new leadership to represent a softening position on abortion, and continued to lead their own "exile church" elect-congregations in

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...

. The congregations led by With reconstituted themselves as the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway in 2013 and became aligned with the Swedish Mission Province. Since 2014, church services administered by Ludvig Nessa has been broadcast on the Christian television channel

Visjon Norge Visjon Norge (or TV Visjon Norge) is a Norwegian Christian television station, which was launched in 2003 as the first Scandinavian Christian television channel to air 24 hours a day. It can be reached throughout Scandinavia by satellite. The found ...

. There was another split in the "exile church" in 2016, after Nessa and Kørner officially rescinded their memberships in the Church of Norway after it voted to allow

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, while others including priest Einar Stjernholm Bryn and his followers remained members of the Church of Norway and disassociated themselves from the "exile church".

Notes

References

{{reflist 1991 establishments in Norway Anti-abortion organisations in Norway Christian organizations established in 1991 Church of Norway Fundamentalist denominations History of Christianity in Norway

Lutheranism in Norway