Gjerstad Church ( no, Gjerstad kirke, locally: ''Gjerstad kjørke'') 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 ...

in Gjerstad Municipality in

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

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 Gjerstad. It is the church for the Gjerstad

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

Aust-Nedenes prosti This list of churches in Agder og Telemark is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark in Agder and Vestfold og Telemark counties in southern Norway. The diocese is based at the Kristiansand Cathedral in the cit ...

(

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 Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth larges ...

. 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 1848 by Lars Listøl using plans 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 ...

Christian H. Grosch Christian Heinrich Grosch (21 January 1801 – 4 May 1865) was a Norwegian architect. He was a dominant figure in Norwegian architecture in the first half of the 1800s. Biography Christian Heinrich Grosch was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. H ...

. The church seats about 500 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1400 (''Gerikstadir Kirkje''), but the church was likely founded around the year 1300. The first church was a

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts a ...

located about to the southeast of the present location. Historically, the parish of Gjerstad included the nearby areas of

Vegårshei Vegårshei is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center is the village of Myra. Other villages in Vegårshei include Mo and Ubergsmoen. The municipality is the 2 ...

and

Søndeled Søndeled is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964 when it was merged into the municipality of Risør in what is now Agder county. The municipality enco ...

(which also included

Risør is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Risør municipality is the town of Risør. There are many villages in Risør such as Akland, ...

. The parish was based in Søndeled from the 1100s until the 1400s when the headquarters of the parish was moved to Gjerstad. In 1737, the old church was torn down and a new church was constructed on the same site. The new

measured about . The builder of the new church was Søren Knutsen from Arendal. In 1745, the areas of Søndeled and Risør were separated to form their own parish. During the 1760s, several repairs were carried out on the building, including work on the bell tower. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( 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 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 ...

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 Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

later that year. By the mid-1800s, the municipal council looked at the fact that there were over 2000 residents in the parish and seats for only 389 people in the church, so it was far too small. They wanted to nearby double the size of the church, so after standing for nearly 150 years, plans were begun to replace the building. Site work began in 1842, and construction on the building began in 1844. The new church was constructed at the top of the nearby hill, about to the north-northwest of the site of the old church. The new 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 on 23 January 1848 by the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Jacob von der Lippe Jacob von der Lippe (27 September 1797–2 October 1878) was a Norwegian politician and priest who served as Bishop of the Diocese of Christianssand from 1841 to 1875. He was also a member of the Parliament of Norway for a total of eight ...

and it wasn't put into regular use until mid-1849. The old church was used until the summer of 1849 when it was torn down and its material was sold. The

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

south of the present church is where the old church was located. In 2004, the church was renovated and restored to its original look.

Priests

There have been many priests who served at this church over the years. This is a partial list. *Axel Pedersen (around 1552) *Gude Pedersen (around 1561) *Laurs (unknown dates) *Peder Jensen Holt (1578-1607) *Erik Olsen (unknown dates) *Lauritz Nilsen (1614-1620) *Erik Fredriksen Lindland (1621-1657) *Bent Pedersen Amdal (1657-1695) *Hans Pedersen Høllen (1695-1708) *Hans Lauritzen Scavenius (1709-1716) *Peder Olsen Horster (1716-1745) *Johan Joakim Markmann (1745-1750) *Lars Larsen Eskildsen (1750-1784) * Hans Mathias Abel (1784-1803) *

Søren Georg Abel Søren Georg Abel (3 January 1772 – 5 May 1820) was a Norwegian priest and politician, also known as the father of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel. Personal life Søren Georg Abel was born on 3 January 1772 in Mo, Telemark as the son of Hans Ma ...

(1803-1821) * John Aas (1821-1867) *Lortenz Ditlev Krog (1867-1872) *Jørgen Christian Andreas Grøner (1873-1890) *Georg Pharo (1890-1899) *Knud Christian Jarl Møller (1899-1910) *Ragnvald Cornelius Knudsen (1910-1912) *Henrik Lehmann (1913-1930) *Ivar Glette (1930-1952) *Gunnar Bjarne Gundersen (1953-1959) *Karl Trygve Lehne (1959-1968) *Arne Johan Sørensen (1969-1974) *Ravn Madland (1975-1980) *Gerhard Falk Woie (1981-1993) *Nils Peder Kjetså (1993-??) *Olav Hofsli (dates unknown)

Media gallery

Gjerstad kirke 20120826-16.JPG, Front entrance of the church Gjerstad kirke 20120826-17.JPG, Side view of the church Gjerstadvatnet 1.jpg, View of the lake Gjerstadvatnet with the church in the upper right corner Gjerstad kirke, Aust-Agder - Riksantikvaren-T179 01 0169.jpg, View of the church in the late 1800s Gjerstad kirke 20120826-01.JPG, Interior view of the church Gjerstad kirke 20120826-03.JPG,

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 ...

Gjerstad kirke 20120826-04.JPG, Baptismal font Gjerstad kirke 20120826-07.JPG, Organ in the back balcony Gjerstad kirke 20120826-08.JPG,

Pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Gjerstad Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1848 14th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church

History

Priests

Media gallery

See also

References