Kokelv Church ( no, Kokelv 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 ...

in Hammerfest Municipality in

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; sme, Romsa ja Finnmárku ; fkv, Tromssa ja Finmarkku; fi, Tromssa ja Finnmark, lit. Troms and Finnmark in English language, English), is a Counties of Norway, county in Northern Norway, northern Norway that was established ...

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

Kokelv Kokelv ( sme, Goavkejohka) is a village in Hammerfest Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland, along the Revsbotn fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with ...

. It is the church for the Kokelv

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

Hammerfest prosti Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

(

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 Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland ( no, Nord-Hålogaland bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms og Finnmark county as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø ...

. 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 ...

style in 1960 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 ...

Rolf Harlew Jenssen Rolf Harlew Jenssen (1916—2008) was a Norwegian architect. Rolf Harlew Jenssen was from Hammerfest, Norway, where he lived all his life, only interrupted by education from 1939 to 1943. After World War II from 1945 until 1955, he worked on ...

. The church seats about 120 people. The church was built by a group of 24 German volunteers sponsored by

Action Reconciliation Service for Peace The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is a German peace organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism. The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (German: Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste, or ASF) was founded in 1958 by the syn ...

(german: Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste), who spent seven months in Kokelv to build the church as a sign of reconciliation with the Norwegian people who had suffered under German occupation during World War II.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=February 2021 Hammerfest Churches in Finnmark Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1960 1960 establishments in Norway Long churches in Norway

See also

References