St. Thomas 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 ...

Vang Municipality Vang is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres. Other villages in Vang include Hænsgardane, Nystuen, � ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

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

Filefjell Filefjell is a mountainous area in Norway. It is located between Lærdal in the Vestland county and Valdres in Innlandet county. It is the historical, as well as modern, main route, linking Western Norway and Eastern Norway. The European route E1 ...

area of Vang. It is one of the churches for the Øye

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

Valdres prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Innlandet county plus the parishes in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. The diocese is based at th ...

(

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 Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

. The concrete and wood church was built in a

rectangular In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90 ...

design in 1971 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 ...

Claus Lindstrøm Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German, Danish, and Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Claus von Amsberg, Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (1926–2002) * Claus-Casimir of Orange ...

. The church seats about 120 people.

History

A church was built in the

area of Vang around the years 1180-1200. The church was a wooden

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ...

with about 100 seats. The church was named after

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

who was killed in England in 1170. It is speculated that it may have been a parish church for people who engaged in iron mining in the area. According to tradition, the church was left desolate after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, but it is also said that Thue Anchesen Bahr, who was parish priest in Vang from 1615–1620, persuaded the local people to restore the church. After that time, it was an annex church to the main Vang Church. The church attracted travelers and provided shelter to those who traveled over the mountain pass. People from all over the country came to be healed (avoid difficult births, illness, get forgiveness of sins, and so on). For this reason, there was a lot of unrest around the church and disturbances for the priests who held mass at the church. As early as 1747, the bishop had proposed that it be closed down. On 24 June 1808, the government approved the demolition of the old church, and this was carried out soon afterwards. In the early 20th century, an initiative was taken to build a new church about east of the old church site. The foundation stone was laid in 1922 for a stone church that had been designed by Olaf Due. Finances and disputes over building materials led to many postponements and changes to plans by various architects. It is said that the Nazis showed interest in church building, and that it deterred others from working for it. In the 1960s, new drawings were prepared by Claus Lindstrøm, and the foundation stone was laid in 1970. The church has a square floor plan and a pyramid-shaped roof. The church 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 2 July 1971.

Media gallery

Sankt Thomaskirken på Filefjell, Viken fylke.jpg Sankt Thomaskirken på Filefjell, Viken fylke (3).jpg Sankt Thomaskirken på Filefjell, Viken fylke (2).jpg Thomaskirken 10.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomas Church, Filefjell Vang, Oppland Churches in Innlandet Rectangular churches in Norway Concrete churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1971 12th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References