Nordal Church

Nordal Church
Nordal kyrkje
View of the church
Nordal Church Location in Sogn og Fjordane county
61°38′33″N 5°22′42″E / 61.6424°N 5.3782°ECoordinates: 61°38′33″N 5°22′42″E / 61.6424°N 5.3782°E
Location	Flora Municipality, Sogn og Fjordane
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Former name(s)	Norddalsfjord Chapel
Consecrated	14 Sept 1898
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Jacob Wilhelm Nordan
Completed	1898
Specifications
Capacity	200
Materials	Wood
Administration
Parish	Nordal
Deanery	Sunnfjord prosti
Diocese	Diocese of Bjørgvin

Nordal Church (Norwegian: Nordal kyrkje) is a parish church in Flora Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the small village of Norddalsfjord, and it serves the northeastern part of the municipality. The church is part of the Nordal parish in the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in 1898 by the architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. The church was consecrated on 14 September 1898 by the Dean Andreas D. Jespersen. It seats about 200 people.^[1][2]

History

The people of Norddalsfjorden had for a long time belonged to the parish of Svanøy, which meant an extremely long and strenuous way to get to church. From the upper parts of the valley of Grøndalen down to the fjord it was a distance of 20 kilometres (12 mi) and five lakes had to be crossed by boat on the way. From the fjord to Svanøy Church it was another 40 kilometres (25 mi), which took about four hours by row boat, if the weather was fine. They had to go all the way to the Svanøy Church, not only for ordinary worship services, but also for baptism ceremonies, weddings, and funerals.

In 1887, the local residents began asking for their own church, and two years later the decision was made to get started on the project. The people in the valley had raised NOK 2,000, and the same sum was allocated by the Norwegian Parliament and the municipality of Kinn. The "Kinn Sparebank" (savings bank) also donated NOK 1,500, so the total sum raised was NOK 7,500 which was enough to cover the construction costs. At first the parish vicar was somewhat reluctant to have a new church building because this implied that he would have to travel more frequently. Furthermore, when the church was completed, he tried to confine the services to the summer months, but the parish council objected. In the first years, services were held five times a year, preferably in the winter. Nowadays services are held fourteen times a year.^[3]

See also

• List of churches in Sogn og Fjordane

References

1. "Nordal kyrkje, Sunnfjord". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
3. "Nordal church". Sogn og Fjordane Fylkesarkiv. Retrieved 2013-11-13.