Church of Norway - Organization

Organization

The constitutional head of the Church is the King of Norway, who is obliged to profess himself a Lutheran. The Church of Norway is subject to legislation, including its budgets, passed by the Storting, and its central administrative functions are carried out by the Royal Ministry of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs.

The Church has an episcopal-synodal structure, with 1,284 parishes, 106 deaneries, 11 dioceses and since 2 October 2011, one area under the supervision of the presiding bishop. The dioceses are - according to the rank of the five historic sees and then according to age:

• Nidaros, seated in Trondheim, covering the counties of Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. Bishops: Presiding Bishop of Nidaros and Bishop of Nidaros Cathedral Deanery Helga Haugland Byfuglien, Bishop of Nidaros Tor Singsaas.
• Bjørgvin, seated in Bergen, covering Bergen and the counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. Bishop: Halvor Nordhaug.
• Oslo, seated in Oslo, covering Oslo and parts of the county of Akershus. Bishop: Ole Christian Kvarme.
• Stavanger, seated in Stavanger, covering the county of Rogaland. Bishop: Erling J. Pettersen.
• Hamar, seated in Hamar, covering the counties of Hedmark and Oppland. Bishop: Solveig Fiske.
• Nord-Hålogaland, seated in Tromsø, covering the counties of Troms and Finnmark, and also Svalbard. Bishop: Per Oskar Kjølaas.
• Agder og Telemark, seated in Kristiansand, covering the counties of Vest-Agder, Aust-Agder and Telemark. Bishop: Olav Skjevesland.
• Tunsberg, seated in Tønsberg, covering the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud. Bishop: Laila Riksaasen Dahl.
• Sør-Hålogaland, seated in Bodø, covering the county of Nordland. Bishop: Tor Berger Jørgensen.
• Borg, seated in Fredrikstad, covering the county of Østfold and parts of the county of Akershus. Bishop: Atle Sommerfeldt.
• Møre, seated in Molde, covering the county of Møre og Romsdal. Bishop: Ingeborg Midttømme.

The General Synod, which convenes once a year, is the highest representative body of the Church. It consists of 85 representatives, of whom seven or eight are sent from each of the dioceses. Of these, four are lay members appointed by the congregations; one is a lay member appointed by Church employees; one is a member appointed by the clergy; and the bishop. In addition, one representative from the Sami community in each of the two northernmost dioceses, representatives from the three theological seminaries, representatives from the Youth Council, and other members of the National Council are also members of the General Synod.

The National Council, the executive body of the Synod, is convened five times a year and comprises 15 members, of whom ten are lay members, four are clergy and one is the presiding bishop. It prepares matters for decision-making elsewhere and puts those decisions into effect. The National Council also has working and ad hoc groups, addressing issues such as church service, education and youth issues.

The Council on Ecumenical and International Relations deals with international and ecumenical matters, and the Sami Church Council is responsible for the Church of Norway's work among the country's indigenous Sami people.

The Bishops' Conference convenes three times a year, and consists of the twelve bishops in the Church. It issues opinions on various issues related to church life and theological matters.

The Church also convenes committees and councils both at the national level (such as the Doctrinal Commission (Den norske kirkes lærenemnd), and at diocesan and local levels, addressing specific issues related to education, ecumenical matters, the Sami minority and youth.

There are 1,600 Church of Norway churches and chapels. Parish work is led by a priest and an elected parish council. There are more than 1,200 clergy (in 2007 20.6% were women ministers) in the Church of Norway.