Stavang Church

Stavang Church
Stavang kyrkje

View of the church
Stavang Church
Location in Sogn og Fjordane county
Stavang Church
Location in Sogn og Fjordane county
61°32′05″N 5°10′57″E / 61.5348°N 5.1825°E / 61.5348; 5.1825Coordinates: 61°32′05″N 5°10′57″E / 61.5348°N 5.1825°E / 61.5348; 5.1825
Location Flora Municipality,
Sogn og Fjordane
Country Norway
Denomination Church of Norway
Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran
History
Consecrated 16 June 1957
Architecture
Status Parish church
Functional status Active
Architect(s) Ole Halvorsen
Completed 1957
Specifications
Capacity 312
Materials Brick
Administration
Parish Bru
Deanery Sunnfjord prosti
Diocese Diocese of Bjørgvin

Stavang Church (Norwegian: Stavang kyrkje) is a parish church in Flora Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Stavang. The church is part of the Bru parish in the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The whitewashed brick church was built in 1957 by the architect Ole Halvorsen. The church, with a seating capacity of 312, was consecrated on 16 June 1957, by Bishop Ragnvald Indrebø.[1][2]

History

Both the church and the church site are relatively new, but the church for the Bru parish has traditions dating back to the Middle Ages. From the Middle Ages until 1872, the Bru Church was located on the island of Svanøya. Historically, the island was named Bru or Brulandet, so the parish was named after the island. Over time, the island was renamed Svanøya, but the parish named remained. By the 1800s, the old Bru Church was in bad condition and needed repair. In the 1860s, the parish council decided to build a new church and a vicarage for Bru parish, but rather than replace the church on the island of Svanøya, they would build it on the mainland and tear down the old church on Svanøya.[3]

A new wooden church was built in 1873 in the village of Stavang on the mainland, but it did not last very long. On the day before Christmas Eve 1951, it burned down to the ground. It took about six years before a new church was completed. Nevertheless, the Stavang Church was the first church to be built in the county after World War II. In the meantime, the local school building was used for church functions.[3]

Building

Stavang Church is one of the three brick churches in this county, the two others being Svelgen Chapel and Farnes Church. The exterior and interior walls are whitewashed. Towards the north, an addition has been built containing a large meeting room for the congregation. The church has four big, high windows on either side of the nave, and the altarpiece is a colourful stained-glass window on the back wall of the chancel. The old church on the island of Svanøya also had some fine stained-glass windows, so this type of decoration has been a tradition in the parish for a long time. There is a richly coloured mosaic on the pulpit also.[3]

The total building costs in 1957 amounted to NOK 360,000 plus another NOK 40,000 for the organ. For the consecration ceremony, 90 boats anchored up in the harbour, and 1500 people wanted to get inside the church, but most of them had to listen to the sermon through loudspeakers outside.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Stavang kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  2. ↑ "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Stavang Church". Sogn og Fjordane Fylkesarkiv. Retrieved 2013-11-14.


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