Country Norway Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran Functional status Active Capacity 312 | Denomination Church of Norway Consecrated 16 June 1957 Opened 1957 Status Parish church | |
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Location Flora Municipality,
Sogn og Fjordane Diocese Lutheran Diocese of Bjørgvin Similar Ortnevik Church, Holmedal Church, Bjordal Church, Guddal Church, Holsen Church | ||
Stavang Church (Norwegian: Stavang kyrkje) is a parish church in Flora Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Stavang. The church is part of the Bru parish in the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The whitewashed brick church was built in 1957 by the architect Ole Halvorsen. The church, with a seating capacity of 312, was consecrated on 16 June 1957, by Bishop Ragnvald Indrebø.
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History
Both the church and the church site are relatively new, but the church for the Bru parish has traditions dating back to the Middle Ages. From the Middle Ages until 1872, the Bru Church was located on the island of Svanøya. Historically, the island was named Bru or Brulandet, so the parish was named after the island. Over time, the island was renamed Svanøya, but the parish named remained. 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.
A new wooden church was built in 1873 in the village of Stavang on the mainland, but it did not last very long. On the day before Christmas Eve 1951, it burned down to the ground. It took about six years before a new church was completed. Nevertheless, 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.
Building
Stavang Church is one of the three brick churches in this 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.
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.