Grong Church ( no, Grong 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 in

Grong ( sma, Kråangke) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Medjå (sometimes called ''Grong'' also). Other villages in the municipality inc ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

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 the ...

. It is located in the village of

Medjå Medjå or Grong is a village which serves as the administrative center of the municipality of Grong in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located along the river Namsen, at the confluence with the river Sanddøla. The Nordland Line runs along the ...

, on the north side of the river

Namsen or is one of the longest rivers in Trøndelag county, in the central part of Norway. The long river flows through the municipalities of Røyrvik, Namsskogan, Grong, Overhalla, and Namsos before emptying into the Namsenfjorden. The river is ...

. It is the church for the Grong

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 o ...

which is part of the

Namdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administrat ...

( deanery) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herbor ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1876 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 ...

s Håkon Mosling and

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Norw ...

. The church seats about 260 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1520, but the

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

in the church dates to the late-12th century, so the church may have been founded during that time period. The first church here was likely 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 ar ...

about west of the present church site. An inspection report from 1679 mentions this church, calling it an "ancient church" built with staves, but that due to its age an condition, people were worried that it might fall over in a large storm. Because of this, the church was torn down in 1685 and a new

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

church was constructed on the same site that same year. In the mid-1800s, there was some discussion of either expanding the old church or replacing it. Finally, Håkon Mosling was hired to design a new church and the government's church architect,

, amended Mosling's plans before construction could begin in an approval process that took a couple of years. In 1876, the new church was completed about to the east of the old church. The new church was consecrated on 14 November 1877. The old church was no longer used after the new church was completed, but it stood next door to the new church until 1885 when the old church was torn down.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=April 2021 Grong Churches in Trøndelag Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1876 12th-century establishments in Norway Long churches in Norway

History

See also

References