Church of Norway

The Church of Norway (Bokmål: Den norske kirke, Nynorsk: Den norske kyrkja, Northern Sami: Norgga girku, Southern Sami: Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an 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 as a separate church intimately integrated with the state as a result of the Lutheran reformation in Denmark–Norway which broke ties with the Holy See in 1536–1537; the Norwegian monarch was the church's titular head from 1537 to 2012. Historically, the church was one of the main instruments of state authority, and an important part of the state's administration. Local government was based on the church's parishes with significant official responsibility held by the parish priest.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Church of Norway gradually ceded most administrative functions to the secular civil service. The modern Constitution of Norway describes the church as the country's "people's church" and requires the monarch to be a member. It is by far the largest church in Norway; until the mid 19th century the state church had a near-total monopoly on religion in Norway. It was the only legal church in Norway, membership was mandatory for every person residing in the kingdom and it was forbidden for anyone other than the official priests of the state church to authorise religious meetings. After the adoption of the 1845 Dissenter Act, the state church retained its legally privileged position, while minority religious congregations such as Catholics were allowed to establish themselves in Norway and were legally termed "dissenters" (i.e. from the government-sanctioned Lutheran state religion). Church employees were civil servants from the Reformation until 2017, when the church became a legal entity separate from the state administration. The Church of Norway is mentioned specifically in the 1814 constitution and is subject to the Church Act. Municipalities are required by law to support activities of parishes and to maintain church buildings and churchyards. Other religious communities are entitled to the same level of government subsidies as the Church of Norway.

The church is led by ordained deacons, priests and bishops. Deacons focus on serving those in need and assist the priests. Priests are traditionally and primarily divided into the ranks chaplain, parish priest (sogneprest) who was traditionally the head of a parish (prestegjeld; literally area that owes allegiance to a priest), and provost (prost). Bishops are elected and consecrated from the priesthood and are the leaders of dioceses. Today, most priests may hold the title of parish priest, while some priests who work directly under a provost are known as provostship priest (prostiprest). All priests and bishops were appointed by the King-in-Council until the late 20th century and thus held the status of embetsmann (higher civil servant appointed by the King). Prior to 2000, ordination required the theological civil servant examination (cand.theol.) that required six years of university studies, but from 2000 other equivalent degrees may also be accepted for certain applicants over the age of 35 with relevant experience.

Norway was gradually Christianized beginning at the end of the Early Middle Ages and was part of Western Christianity, acknowledging papal authority until the 16th century. The Roman Catholic Church exercised a significant degree of sovereignty in Norway and essentially shared power with the King of Norway as the secular ruler. The Lutheran reformation in Denmark–Norway in 1536–1537 broke ties with the Holy See, around two decades after the start of the Protestant Reformation. It later resulted in the separation of dioceses in Norway and throughout the Nordic countries from the Catholic Church. These Lutheran state churches were integrated with the state and subject to royal authority. The Norwegian monarch, although a layperson, was deemed the head of the church until 2012, although in practice the bishops remained the spiritual leaders. Until the modern era, the Church of Norway was not only a religious organisation but also one of the most important instruments of state authority, and an important part of the state administration, especially at the local and regional levels.

The church professes to be "truly Catholic, truly Reformed, truly Evangelical" in the Evangelical Lutheran tradition of Western Christian faith, with its foundation on the Bible's Old and New Testaments and occasionally including the Apocrapha, along with the three historic creeds of faith in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, Luther's Small Catechism, Luther's Large Catechism, the Smalcald Articles and the Augsburg Confession of 1530, along with several other seminal documents in the Book of Concord: Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church published in 1580. All Evangelical Lutheran clergy (bishops, priests/pastors, deacons and other ministers) are required to read and assent to the Book of Concord. The church is a member of Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe, having signed the Leuenberg Agreement with other Lutheran and Reformed churches in 1973. It is also a member of the Porvoo Communion with 12 other churches, among them, the Anglican churches of Europe. It has also signed other ecumenical texts, including the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church and the Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Bishop Munib Younan in the city of Lund, Sweden, in 2016.

As of 2017 the church is legally independent of the government. According to the constitution it serves as the "people's church" in the Kingdom of Norway. Until 1969, the church's name for administrative purposes was simply the "State Church" or sometimes just "the Church", whereas the constitution described it as the "Evangelical-Lutheran Church". A constitutional amendment of 21 May 2012 designates the church as "Norway's people's church" (Norges Folkekirke), with a new provision that is almost a verbatim copy of the provision for the Danish state church (folkekirken) in the Constitution of Denmark; the Minister of Church Affairs Trond Giske stressed that the reform meant that "the state church is retained", On 27 May 2016 Stortinget (Parliament of Norway) approved a new legislative act to establish the Church of Norway as an independent legal entity rather than a branch of the civil service, and the law took effect on 1 January 2017. The church remains state funded.

Until 1845 the Church of Norway was the only legal religious organization in Norway and it was not possible for a person to end membership in the Church of Norway. The Dissenter Act (Lov angaaende dem, der bekjende sig til den christelige Religion, uden at være medlemmer af Statskirken) was approved by the Storting on 16 July 1845 to allow the establishment of alternative religious (Christian) bodies. This act was replaced in 1969 by Lov om trudomssamfunn og ymist anna.

Until 2012, the constitutional head of the church was the King of Norway, who is still obliged to profess himself a Lutheran. After the constitutional amendment of 21 May 2012, the church is self-governed with regard to doctrinal issues and appointment of clergy.