Spjærøy Church is a century-old

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church belonging to 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 ...

located in Dypedal,

Hvaler Hvaler is a municipality that is a group of islands in the southern part of Viken County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skjærhalden, on the island of Kirkeøy. The only police station in the municipali ...

—a group of

islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Viken county Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

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 ...

situated between Vesterøy and

Asmaløy Asmaløy is an island in Hvaler municipality of Viken county, Norway. Asmaløy is one of the larger islands in the archipelago of Hvaler which consists of over 800 islands, islets, skerries and reefs located in the outer Oslofjord. Hvaler tunnel ...

. Officially called Spjærøy kirke, the church was built in 1889 and is part of the Fredrikstad Domprosti (rural deanery),

Diocese of Borg Borg is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The diocese includes parishes in the counties of Østfold and Akershus, excluding Asker and Bærum. It was created in 1969 by separation from the Diocese of Oslo. The cathedral city is Fredrikstad. Fredr ...

History

In the 1880s, the increasing population in

had brought about the need to either expand the existing

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

or construct a new

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

to accommodate the growing number of church-goers. In May 1887, the plan to construct a new granite church in Dypedal was approved by the municipal officials. The design was made by Architect

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 ...

, while the construction was supervised by master mason Peder Emanuelsen Utengen from

Kirkeøy Kirkeøy is the largest island in the Norwegian municipality of Hvaler. Its name means "church island" and is derived from Hvaler Church which is on the island and is also the main church of the municipality. The island covers an area of and had ...

. In May 1889, the cornerstone was laid and in July 1891 Bishop

Carl Peter Parelius Essendrop Carl Peter Parelius Essendrop (6 June 1818 – 18 October 1893) was a Norwegian Lutheran priest, educator and Bishop of Oslo. Biography Essendrop was born Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Peter Essendrop (1776-1819) and ...

dedicated the church.

Architecture and interiors

The church building was built primarily of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

derived from a nearby

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

. The church interior was originally maintained in a dark brown color, but after several decades until the present is maintained in white, dark red and blue. The church's

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

s has three

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows—designed by Rolf Klemetsrud and Ivar Johansen in 1951—portray the Lamb and Cross, the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

and a

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

. The

church bell A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and t ...

was cast by Anders Riise of Tønsberg in 1837. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

, which at first was a huge white Christian cross set on a dark background, was replaced in 1941 with an altar painting by Alfhild Børsum Johnsen from

. The partition in the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

, which has four reliefs depicting the Four Evangelists, was sculpted by Sverre Johnsen. In 1965, a new organ was installed in the church, which was manufactured by the J.H. Jørgensen Organ Co. of Oslo. The church had been renovated several times since its

dedication Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church, or other sacred building. Feast of Dedication The Feast of Dedication, today Hanukkah, once also called "Feast of the Maccabees," is a Jewish festival observed for eight days fr ...

, first in 1941 for its 50th Anniversary, then in 1958, and the latest in 1991 for its 100th Anniversary.

Cultural heritage

Aside from its inherent religious nature, Spjærøy Church is also considered as a

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

and is included in the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( no, Riksantikvaren or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environm ...

database, No. 85531. Key historical and current aspects of the church were discussed in a chapter of a book written by Thorkildsen.

References

External links

Church of Norway

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spjaeroy Church Churches in Viken Lutheran churches in Europe 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1891