Bekkjarvik Church ( no, Bekkjarvik kirke) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activities, ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

Austevoll Municipality Austevoll is a municipality and an archipelago in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Storebø on the island of Huftarøy. Other vill ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located in the village of

Bekkjarvik Bekkjarvik is a village in Austevoll municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern coast of the island of Selbjørn. The village has a population (2019) of 577 and a population density of . The village is ...

on the eastern part of the island of

Selbjørn Selbjørn is an island in Austevoll municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island is the second largest in the municipality (after Huftarøy). Most of the population lives along the northern and eastern coastlines of the island. The comm ...

. It is one of the five churches for the Austevoll

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 m ...

which is part of the Fana prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) 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. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when 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 instance under Urnes Stave C ...

design in 1898 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 ...

J. Sandnæs. The church seats about 180 people.

History

A royal decree from 14 December 1895 approved the construction of a chapel at Bekkjarvik. The architect J. Sandnæs was hired to design the building. Construction on the new church was completed in 1898. The building was a

with a rectangular

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 ...

and a somewhat narrower, straight-ended

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

. During the construction, a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in 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 usually located ...

was built at the east end of the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

. In 1975, the church porch was enlarged using plans by the architect Ole Halvorsen. The additional space was used for a cloakroom and a waiting area. There was also a large addition on the southeast side of the choir which includes a kitchen and meeting room.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=November 2021 Austevoll Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1898 1898 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References