Nordal Church

Nordal Church (Norwegian: Nordal kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the small village of Norddalsfjord, and it serves the northeastern part of the municipality. It is the church for the Nordal parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1898 by the architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church seats about 200 people.[1][2] The church was consecrated on 14 September 1898 by the local Dean Andreas D. Jespersen.

Nordal Church
Nordal kyrkje
View of the church
Nordal Church Location of the church Nordal Church Nordal Church (Norway)
61.6424°N 5.3782°E
Location	Kinn Municipality, Vestland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Former name(s)	Norddalsfjord Chapel
Status	Parish church
Founded	1898
Consecrated	14 Sept 1898
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Jacob Wilhelm Nordan
Architectural type	Long church
Completed	1898
Specifications
Capacity	200
Materials	Wood
Administration
Parish	Nordal
Deanery	Sunnfjord prosti
Diocese	Bjørgvin

History

The people of Norddalsfjorden had for a long time belonged to the parish of Bru, which meant an extremely long and strenuous way to get to church which was located on the island of Svanøya. From the upper parts of the Grøndalen valley down to the fjord it was a distance of 20 kilometres (12 mi) which included crossing five lakes by boat. From the fjord to Bru Church it was another 40 kilometres (25 mi) across the sea, which took about four hours by row boat (if the weather was fine). They had to go all the way to the Svanøy Church, not only for ordinary worship services, but also for baptism ceremonies, weddings, and funerals.

In 1887, the local residents began asking for their own church, and two years later the decision was made to get started on the project. The people in the valley had raised 2000 kr, and the same sum was allocated by the Norwegian Parliament and the municipality of Kinn. The "Kinn Sparebank" (savings bank) also donated 1500 kr, so the total sum raised was 7500 kr which was enough to cover the construction costs. At first, the parish vicar was somewhat reluctant to have a new church building because this implied that he would have to travel more frequently. Furthermore, when the church was completed, he tried to confine the services to the summer months, but the parish council objected. In the first years, services were held five times a year, preferably in the winter. Nowadays services are held fourteen times a year.[3]

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See also

• List of churches in Bjørgvin

References

1. "Nordal kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
3. "Nordal church". Sogn og Fjordane Fylkesarkiv. Retrieved 2013-11-13.