Kvam Church ( no, Kvam 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 ...

Steinkjer Steinkjer is a municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Steinkjer (town), town of Steinkjer which is located on th ...

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 Denmar ...

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

Kvam Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settle ...

, along the lake

Snåsavatnet Snåsavatnet (; en, Lake Snåsa) is Norway's sixth-largest lake. The lake is located in the municipalities of Steinkjer and Snåsa in Trøndelag county, Norway. The villages of Følling and Sunnan lie at the southwestern end of the lake and the ...

. It is the church for the Kvam

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 Stiklestad prosti (

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 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 Herborg ...

. 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 1878 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 ...

Rasmus M. Overrein.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1533, but the church was not new that year. The first church at Kvam 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 a ...

that was built around the year 1200 on a site about northwest of the present church site. There is a

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 that has been dated to the year 1200, leading archeologists to surmise that the church was founded around that time. Historically, the church name was spelled . An inspection of the very old church in 1664 noted that the building was about ready to collapse because the structure was rotting. Soon afterwards, the old church was torn down and a new log church was built on the same site in 1671. 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 12 August 1671 by the Bishop

Erik Bredal Erik Bredal (1608 – 18 May 1672) was a Danish-born, Norwegian Lutheranism, Lutheran Bishop. Erik Bredal was born in the town of Rudkøbing, on the island of Langeland in south-central Denmark. Bredal came from a clerical family. His fathe ...

. By the 1870s, the parish wanted a new church and there was a great dispute as to where to build it. The old church was on a hill, right next to a steep mountainside about north of the shore of the large lake

, but many wanted the new church to be built along the lake shore. After much debate, a royal resolution from 27 January 1877 ordered that the new church was to be built by the lake in 1878. The church was

d on 13 November 1878 by

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 ...

Andreas Grimelund. The old church was torn down after the new one was completed.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Steinkjer Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1878 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References