Stavang Church

Stavang Church (Norwegian: Stavang kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Stavang. It is the church for the Bru parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The whitewashed brick church was built in a long church style in 1957 by the architect Ole Halvorsen from Bergen. The church seats about 312 people.[1][2] The church was consecrated on 16 June 1957, by Bishop Ragnvald Indrebø.

Stavang Church
Stavang kyrkje
View of the church
Stavang Church Location of the church Show map of Vestland Stavang Church Stavang Church (Norway) Show map of Norway
61.5348°N 5.1825°E / 61.5348; 5.1825
Location	Kinn Municipality, Vestland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	13th century
Consecrated	16 June 1957
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Ole Halvorsen
Architectural type	Long church
Completed	1957
Specifications
Capacity	312
Materials	Brick
Administration
Parish	Bru
Deanery	Sunnfjord prosti
Diocese	Bjørgvin

History

View of the old church on Svanøy (in the distance), circa 1850.

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1322, but the church was not new at that time. Historically, the church was known as Bru Church and it was located on the island of Svanøya (the island was historically known as Bru or Brulandet) which is why the parish was named after the island. Over time, the island was renamed Svanøya, but the parish name remained.

The old medieval stave church stood for centuries on the island. During the first half of the 1600s, the church was torn down and replaced with a timber-framed building with a cruciform floor plan. 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][4]

A new wooden church, known as Stavang Church was built in 1873 in the village of Stavang on the mainland. It was designed by the architect Christian Christie. This new church, however, did not last very long. On the day before Christmas Eve 1951, it burned to the ground. Due to the tremendous amount of rebuilding after World War II, it took about six years before a new church was completed. 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][5]

Building

Stavang Church is one of the three brick churches in the 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 360,000 kr plus another 40,000 kr 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

• List of churches in Bjørgvin

References

1. "Stavang kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
3. "Stavang Church". Sogn og Fjordane Fylkesarkiv. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
4. "Bru kyrkjestad - Svanøy" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
5. "Stavang kyrkjestad" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 2019-11-09.