By the end of 2021, five new church buildings known as prayer houses (bedehus) will have been constructed or expanded along the coast of Norway.
At least 10 million euros – around 100 million Norwegian kroner – are being spent in order to ensure there are larger and modern facilities where low church Lutherans can meet for fellowship.
The prayer houses formed part of the network of churches run by the Church of Norway and were built in smaller communities away from the centre of the towns. However, now around 50% are run by the Church of Norway, with the others run or owned by private organisations and churches.
Growing rift
Close to 70% of Norway’s population, 3.7 million people, are members of the Church of Norway. It was the state church, but broke away in 2017 from state control. The Church of Norway is now referred to as ‘the people’s church’. Although it is an evangelical Lutheran denomination, a substantial portion of its most devoted members have distanced themselves from the formal church structure over a century and a half. In the last couple of decades the rift between different conservative pietist Lutheran organisations and the church has grown deeper due to the church’s increasingly liberal theological development.
Independent groups have begun to attend meetings in prayer houses as they mostly disagree with the church over the acceptance of same-sex marriages. The issue has led to thousands terminating their membership in the Church of Norway over the last decade.
The typical rural Norwegian prayer house (see photo above) is a small wooden white painted house where Christians meet to have fellowship, often on weekdays as well as Sundays.
