Dolstad Church ( no, Dolstad kirke) is a parish church 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 ...

Vefsn Municipality Vefsn ( sma, Vaapste) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mosjøen (population: 9,843). Some of the notable villages in Vefsn i ...

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county, Norway. It is located in the town of Mosjøen. It is the church for the Dolstad parish which is part of the

Indre Helgeland prosti Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administra ...

(

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 Sør-Hålogaland. The red, wooden church was built in an octagonal style in 1734 by the architect Nils Pedersen Beck. The church seats about 500 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1544, but the church was not new that year. The church was likely founded in the 12th century and it was located about to the northeast of the present church site. In the 1640s, the church building was either renovated or completely rebuilt. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject 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 o ...

is dated to 1644, so that may have been the year of construction. At that time, the church was a log building in a cruciform style with an entry porch at the west end. In 1730, work on a new church was begun and construction lasted for four years. The new building was located about to the southwest of the old church. The new building was designed with four arms attached to the central octagon creating an octagonal-cruciform floor plan with a steeple above in the center of the church. After the new church was completed, the old church building was torn down. The church was

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

d by 7 August 1735 by the local provost

Anders Dass Anders is a male name in Scandinavian languages and Fering North Frisian, an equivalent of the Greek Andreas ("manly") and the English Andrew. It originated from Andres via metathesis. In Sweden, Anders has been one of the most common names fo ...

, the son of poet and priest

Petter Dass Petter Pettersen Dass (c. 1647 – 17 August 1707) was a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry. Biography He was born at Northern Herøy ( Dønna), Nordlan ...

. In 1750, the church was dedicated to

St. Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

. Around the year 1770, 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 added to the east end of the choir. In 1814, this church served as an election church ( no, valgkirke). 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 (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish 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 later that year.

Gallery

Skip i Dolstad kyrkje.JPG, Ship that hangs in the church Dolstad-engel1.JPG, Hanging angel Dolstad prestegård og kirke i Vefsn, Nordland - av Nikolayus Silliseth - Norsk Folkemuseum - NF.01211.jpg, Painting of the church and parsonage Mosjøen - no-nb digifoto 20151119 00004 NB MIT FNR 16244.jpg, Old photo of the church (c. 1956)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=April 2021 Vefsn Churches in Nordland Wooden churches in Norway Octagonal churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1735 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Gallery

See also

References