Lunde Church () is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

of 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 ...

Nome Municipality Nome is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midt-Telemark and historically part of the Grenland region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ulefoss. Other villages ...

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

county,

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 ...

. It is located in the village of

Bjervamoen Bjervamoen or Lunde is a village in Nome Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The village is located along the river Straumen, about west of the village of Ulefoss, about east of Flåbygd, and about south of Bø i Telemark. The village is ...

. It is one of the churches in the ''Lunde og Flåbygd''

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which is part of the

Øvre Telemark prosti Several Church of Norway churches are in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark in Norway. This list includes all of the parishes in Agder and Telemark counties. The diocese is based at the Kristiansand Cathedral in the city of Kristiansand (town), Kris ...

(

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 ...

) in the

Diocese of Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark () is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth largest city. Kristiansand Cathedral serves as the seat of t ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, 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 inst ...

design in 1872 using plans drawn up 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 ...

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Nor ...

. The church seats about 450 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1398, but the church was not built that year. The first church in Lunde was a stone

that was built in the middle of the 12th century. It is said that the church looked a lot like the

Old Bø Church Old Bø Church () is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Midt-Telemark Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bø. It used to be the main church for the Bø parish which is part of the Øvre Telem ...

, but with a more Norman style. The church was dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

. The church was said to have a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

that measured long and the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

measured . In the middle of the 19th century, the old church is said to have had room for 280 people, which was too small for the congregation. Also, the church was cold and drafty. In 1860, the church was purchased by the congregation and it was decided to demolish the old church and replace it with a new building. The last service was held in the old church on 17 August 1870. The church was then torn down and work on a new church on the same site began. Some of the stone from the old church was reused in the construction of the new building. The new church building was designed by

and a man named G.A. Hansen was hired as the lead builder. The new church was a wooden

with a tower on the west with a

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

beneath it. The

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

is on the east end of the

and a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

on the north side of the choir. The new building was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 9 August 1872. In 1873, structural work was done inside the church to prevent the exterior walls from bowing outwards. The tower was repaired in 1920–1921 and the church was refurbished in the 1960s. The church was refurbished again for its 125th anniversary in 1997. In the spring of 2015, tower was repaired once again.

Media gallery

Lunde kirke Nome.jpg Lunde kirke.JPG Lunde, kirke.JPG

References

{{use dmy dates, date=November 2022 Nome, Norway Churches in Telemark Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1872 12th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References