Gjerstad Church

Gjerstad Church
Gjerstad kirke
View of the church
Gjerstad Church
Location in of the church
Gjerstad Church
Gjerstad Church (Norway)
58°52′58″N 9°01′12″E / 58.8829°N 09.0201°E / 58.8829; 09.0201Coordinates: 58°52′58″N 9°01′12″E / 58.8829°N 09.0201°E / 58.8829; 09.0201
Location Gjerstad, Aust-Agder
Country Norway
Denomination Church of Norway
Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status Parish church
Architecture
Functional status Active
Architect(s) Christian H. Grosch
and Lars Listøl
Completed 1848
Specifications
Capacity 500
Materials Wood
Administration
Parish Gjerstad
Deanery Aust-Nedenes prosti
Diocese Agder og Telemark

Gjerstad Church (Norwegian: Gjerstad kirke, locally: Gjerstad kjørke) is a parish church in Gjerstad municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Gjerstad. It is the main church for the Gjerstad parish which is part of the Aust-Nedenes prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The white, wooden church was built in a "long church" style in 1848 by Lars Listøl using plans by the architect Christian H. Grosch. The church seats about 500 people. In 2004, the church was renovated and restored to its original look.[1][2]

History

In the 1430s, a church named Gerikstadir Kirkje is mentioned in existing historical records. This is the first known reference to a church in Gjerstad. Historically, the parish of Gjerstad included the nearby areas of Vegårshei and Søndeled (which also included Risør. The parish was based in Søndeled from the 1100s until the 1400s when the headquarters of the parish was moved to Gjerstad. In 1745, Søndeled and Risør were separated to form their own parish.[3]

The first church built in Gjerstad was likely around the year 1300, probably in the Mostad area, north of the present location. It is not known how long that church stood. In 1737, however, the existing church at that time was torn down and replaced by a new church building in the present-day village of Gjerstad, just north of the shores of the lake Gjerstadvatnet. By the mid-1800s, the municipal council looked at the fact that there were over 2000 residents in the parish and seats for only 389 people in the church, it was far too small. They wanted to nearby double the size of the church, so after standing for nearly 150 years, plans were begun to replace the building. The present church was constructed from 1846-1849, just north of the site of the old church. The new church was consecrate on 23 January 1848 by the Bishop Jacob von der Lippe. After the completion of the new church, the old church (located just down the hill from the new church) was torn down in the summer of 1849 and its material was sold. The cemetery south of the present church is where the old church was located.[3]

Priests

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

There have been many priests who served at this church over the years. This is a partial list.[3]

  • Axel Pedersen (around 1552)
  • Gude Pedersen (around 1561)
  • Laurs (unknown dates)
  • Peder Jensen Holt (1578-1607)
  • Erik Olsen (unknown dates)
  • Lauritz Nilsen (1614-1620)
  • Erik Fredriksen Lindland (1621-1657)
  • Bent Pedersen Amdal (1657-1695)
  • Hans Pedersen Høllen (1695-1708)
  • Hans Lauritzen Scavenius (1709-1716)
  • Peder Olsen Horster (1716-1745)
  • Johan Joakim Markmann (1745-1750)
  • Lars Larsen Eskildsen (1750-1784)
  • Hans Mathias Abel (1784-1803)
  • Søren Georg Abel (1803-1821)
  • John Aas (1821-1867)
  • Lortenz Ditlev Krog (1867-1872)
  • Jørgen Christian Andreas Grøner (1873-1890)
  • Georg Pharo (1890-1899)
  • Knud Christian Jarl Møller (1899-1910)
  • Ragnvald Cornelius Knudsen (1910-1912)
  • Henrik Lehmann (1913-1930)
  • Ivar Glette (1930-1952)
  • Gunnar Bjarne Gundersen (1953-1959)
  • Karl Trygve Lehne (1959-1968)
  • Arne Johan Sørensen (1969-1974)
  • Ravn Madland (1975-1980)
  • Gerhard Falk Woie (1981-1993)
  • Nils Peder Kjetså (1993-??)
  • Olav Hofsli (dates unknown)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Gjerstad kirke". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  2. ↑ "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  3. 1 2 3 Vevstad, Andreas (1998). Gjerstad kjørke 150 år (in Norwegian). Tvedestrand, Norge: Tvedestrand boktrykkeri. ISBN 8299459206.


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