Spjærøy Church is a century-old

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church belonging to the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

located in Dypedal,

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

—a group of

islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

in Østfold county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

situated between Vesterøy and

Asmaløy Asmaløy is an island in Hvaler municipality of Østfold 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 Tun ...

. 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. Fred ...

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 place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

or construct a new building 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 Nor ...

, 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 dedicated the church.

Architecture and interiors

The church building was built primarily of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

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 area, and is usually higher t ...

. 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 (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

s has three

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

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. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

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 ...

. The

church bell A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a service of worship, but are also rung o ...

was cast by Anders Riise of Tønsberg in 1837. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

, which at first was a huge white

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

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, accesse ...

, which has four reliefs depicting the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

, 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 often refers to various religious and secular ceremonies and practices such as: * Dedication (ritual) the ritual or ceremonial establishment of a purpose for a person, place, or thing ** Dedication of churches ** Child dedication, a C ...

, 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, historical ...

and is included in the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

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 Østfold 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1891 Hvaler