Strusshamn 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 ...

Askøy Municipality Askøy is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island municipality is located in the Midhordland district of the county, sitting in a large group of islands immediately northwest of the city of Bergen, which is the country's second mos ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 Strusshamn. It is the church for the Strusshamn

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 Vesthordland prosti (

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

. The large concrete and glass church was built in a fan-shaped design in 1969 using plans drawn up by the architects

Torgeir Alvsaker Torgeir Alvsaker (1875—1971) was a Norwegian architect. Alvsaker was born 9 February 1875 on the Alvsaker farm in Kinsarvik, Norway. He attended the Bergen Technical School and graduated in 1898. He then became an assistant to architect Ad ...

and

Einar Vaardal-Lunde Einar Vaardal-Lunde (1915–2003) was a Norwegian architect. Vaardal-Lunde was educated at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, graduating in 1940. After World War II, he participated in the rebuilding efforts and reconstruction in Finnmark un ...

. The church seats about 500 people.

History

First church

In 1741, the areas of

Askøy Askøy is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island municipality is located in the Midhordland district of the county, sitting in a large group of islands immediately northwest of the city of Bergen, which i ...

and

Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough is located in the western part of the municipality. Historically, the area was called ''Laxevaag'', and it was a separate municipality until 1972 when it was ...

were separated from the main

Bergen Cathedral Bergen Cathedral () is a cathedral in the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Bjørgvin as well as the seat of the "Bergen domkirke" parish and the seat of the Bergen domprosti (arch-deanery). It ...

parish and they became a parish of their own. It was decided that the old

Ask Church Ask Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Askøy Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ask, on the eastern coast of the island of Askøy. It is the church for the Ask parish which is part of t ...

was too small, and not centrally located so the old church was torn down in 1741. Soon after, a new church was built in the village of Strusshamn, near the foot of "Church Mountain" (), about north of the present site of the church. This became the new Strusshamn Church which was the main church for Askøy and Laksevåg. The new church was a small

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

building with 238 seats and 63 standing places. The church measured long, wide, and tall. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church () is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national elections and this ass ...

(). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church 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 ...

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 Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

later that year. During the night of 8 September 1861, a fire started in the flour mill next door to the church, and both buildings burned down.

Second church

Work immediately started to build a new church. It was decided to build the replacement church about south of the old church site, on a small

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

in the harbour. The new church was built by architect

Georg Andreas Bull Georg Andreas Bull (26 March 1829 – 1 February 1917) was a Norwegian architect and chief building inspector in Oslo, Christiania (now Oslo) for forty years. He was among the major architects in the country, and performed surveying studies and ...

(the brother of the more famous

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

) and the lead builder was Askild Aase. This was a wooden cruciform church with a total of 727 seats. The new church had 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 ...

measuring and a

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 ...

measuring wide on the east end of the building along with a small

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 ...

. 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 ...

with a tower was on the west end of the nave. Overall, the entire church was long and wide across the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

. The new church was finished in 1864 and it was

consecrate 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 ( ...

d by Bishop Peder Hersleb Graah Birkeland on 30 September 1864. After the fire at the old church, some items were recovered from the old church and moved to the new church. This included two brass chandeliers, two apostle figures, and a mass

vestment Vestments are Liturgy, liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christianity, Christian religion, especially by Eastern Christianity, Eastern Churches, Catholic Church, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. ...

. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

, painted by Johan Ludvig Losting, was also rescued from the old church. The church was significantly remodeled in 1920 when it was wired for electricity. The last renovation was done in 1964 to celebrate its centennial anniversary. Then on the night of 29-30 January 1966, there was a fire and this church burned to the ground also. Only a few things were saved including two candlesticks and a baptismal bowl.

Third church

The present church was built shortly after the 1966 fire 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 ...

and Einar Vaardal-Lunde. This church was built out of concrete and glass and it is able to seat about 500 people. This 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 ...

by Bishop Per Juvkam on 11 May 1969. The church was greatly expanded in 2009 by adding a large interior atrium and two church halls. The expansion nearly doubled the area of the building.

Media gallery

Strusshavn Church - panoramio.jpg, Present church exterior (2011) Strusshamn kirke - 20060521.jpg, Exterior view (2006) Strusshamn kirke T263 01 0456.jpg, Exterior view of the 2nd church (c. 1930) Strusshamn kirke T263 01 0455.jpg, Interior view of the 2nd church (c. 1930)

References