Sela Church ( no, Sela fjellkirke) is a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

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 Sela. It is an

annex chapel A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

for the Malm

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 1997. The church seats about 120 people.

History

The first chapel in Sela was built in 1895. The chapel was built by Petter Estensen. The villagers financed the building and the teacher Anton Granhus made the drawings for the local builders. The church was long, with a low spire. It was built to seat about 100 people. On 26 October 1895, a royal resolution granted permission to consecrate the small chapel that the local residents had built. It 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 15 July 1896 by Bishop Johannes Skaar. A plot of land by the church was also consecrated as a burial ground. The church officials decided that four services a year should be held at the chapel: two by the parish priest from

Beitstad Church Beitstad Church ( no, Beitstad kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Steinkjer municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Beitstad. It is the main church for the Beitstad parish which is part of the S ...

, one by the parish priest from

Ytterøy Church Ytterøy Church ( no, Ytterøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Levanger municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the island of Ytterøya, just north of the village of Hokstad. It is the church for the Ytter ...

, and one by the parish priest in

Åfjord Church Åfjord Church ( no, Åfjord kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Åfjord municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Årnes, just east of the Åfjorden and west of the lake Stordalsvatnet. It is one ...

. The church was not well-made and so by the 1930s, the church was in poor condition. It was torn down in 1937. The second chapel on this site was built in 1937 right after the previous building was torn down. The new building was

d on 21 September 1937 by Bishop Johan Nicolai Støren. The chapel was designed by

Roar Tønseth Roar Tønseth (1895—1985) was a Norwegian architect. He had an unusually long career as an architect, stretching from before 1920 to the early 1980s. Roar Tønseth was the son of Johannes Tønseth (1860-1896) and Henrikke Ryjord (1869-1940 ...

. It was a log building with a

turf roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...

and a cross on the roof. In 1955, after only 28 years in use, the building was condemned due to rot and fungal infestation. The building was demolished and burned. The local schoolhouse in Kruven was used to hold church services after that time, but there were no immediate plans to replace the building. Finally, after many years without a chapel building, a new chapel was built in 1997. It was

d on 28 September 1997 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 ...

Finn Wagle Finn Wagle (born 19 June 1941) is a theologian and a former bishop of Nidaros in the Church of Norway. He was also the Preses ('' Primus inter pares'', “first among equals”) and thus presided over the Bishop's Conference in the Church of ...

. This church was built near where the old ''Selahaugen'' church used to stand until the 1955.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Steinkjer Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1997 1895 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References