Sandnessjøen Church ( no, Sandnessjøen 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 ...

Alstahaug Municipality Alstahaug is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandnessjøen. Some of the villages in Alstahaug include Søvika and Tjøtta. Most resid ...

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 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 town of

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s and it received town status in 1999. Sandnessjøen is located on ...

. It is the church for the Sandnessjøen

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 Nord-Helgeland 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 Sør-Hålogaland Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the seat of the pres ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

style in 1881 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 ...

Andreas Grenstad. The church seats about 380 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1240 when the church was mentioned in the book ''

Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar ''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' ("The Saga of Haakon Haakonarson") or ''Hákonar saga gamla'' ("The Saga of Old Haakon") is an Old Norse Kings' Saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. Content and style ...

''. The original church was built at Sandnes about southwest of the present church site. In 1644, the old church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. The new church was a

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 wooden ...

building with an entry porch on the west end and a small

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 ...

on the east end. In 1767, the area of Leirfjord was added to the parish, so it was decided that the church site should be moved to Stamnæs, about to the northeast so that it would be more centrally located within the parish. So in 1768, a new cruciform church was completed at Stamnæs and the old church in Sandnæs was torn down. In 1774, there was a fire in the church that caused some damages and needed to be repaired. In 1882, the old church was torn down and replaced with a new church on the same site. Some of the materials from the old church were reused in the construction of the new building. 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 on 31 July 1882 by the bishop

Jacob Sverdrup Smitt Jacob Sverdrup Smitt (6 January 1835 – 6 June 1889) was a Norwegian bishop and politician. Career Smitt was born in Nordre Land, Norway. He was the son of the dean Anton Elias Smitt (1805–1875) and Livia Sverdrup (1808–1840), and brother ...

Media gallery

Sandnessjøen kirke - Kirche Sandnessjøen (cropped).jpg, Sandnessjøen kirke - Kirche Sandnessjøen.jpg, Sandnessjøen - no-nb digifoto 20151008 00010 NB MIT FNR 08094.jpg, Stamnes kirke, Sandnessjøen, Nordland - Riksantikvaren-T402 01 0105.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandnessjoen Church Alstahaug Churches in Nordland Wooden churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1882 12th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References