Bjørke Church (, also known as ''Storfjorden kyrkje'') 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 ...

Volda Municipality Volda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre is the Volda (village), village of Volda. Other v ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

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

Bjørke Bjørke is a village in Volda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. The village is located at the innermost part of the Hjørundfjorden, just south of the village of Leira. The village is home to Bjørke Church. The village of Bjørke lies ...

at the innermost end of the

Hjørundfjorden Hjørundfjorden is a fjord in the traditional district of Sunnmøre in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located mostly within Ørsta Municipality, although part of the mouth of the fjord lies in Sykkylven Municipality and the innermost ...

(which is also known as the Storfjorden). It is the church for the Storfjorden

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 Søre Sunnmøre 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 Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, 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 inst ...

design in 1920 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 ...

Mathias Brække. The church seats about 200 people. The church 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 on 16 September 1920 by Bishop Peter Hognestad.

History

Bjørke Chapel was originally designed by Mathias Brække and it was built by the builders Sivert Gjerdsdal and Edvard Gjerdsdal. Construction began in 1919 and the new building was completed in 1920. It 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 the Bishop on 16 September 1920. The building is a wooden

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 smaller, rectangular

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 ...

on the east end of the nave. The west end has 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. The building was originally an

annex chapel A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to travel distance. Often a ...

under the main

Hjørundfjord Church Hjørundfjord Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ørsta Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Sæbø, Møre og Romsdal, Sæbø on the west coast of the Hjørundfjorden. It is the chu ...

but in 1929 it was upgraded to the status of

Media gallery

Bjorke Kirke.jpg Bjørke kyrkje, Storfjorden kyrkjestad.jpg KirkeTelefonkiosk.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorke Church (Orsta) Volda Churches in Møre og Romsdal Wooden churches in Norway Long churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1920 1920 establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References