The Pastor's Object is to counter German Propaganda.

To day it is November 11. 11 o’clock this day in 1918 ended First World
War - the so called Great War. Very little is know about the whereabouts
of Norwegian Unitarianism at that time. What did Unitarians in Norway do
during the Great War? Almost no documentation available part from one
news article and four letters. Based on this I have been able to
reconstruct something of what happened in the Unitarian Norway, and to
my surprise I ended up with a Norwegian Unitarian pastor who went to
London to counter German Propaganda in Norwegian newspapers. You may
read all about it here:
http://uninaplo.unitarius-halo.net/knut/the-pastors-object-is-to-counter-german-propaganda/

Unitarianism in Norway

Unitarianism in Norway

By Knut Heidelberg, Norway.

Lecture given at Reformation Day, October 31 2009, in the Unitarian congregation in Debrecen in Hungary.

First of all I will thank you for inviting me here to this wonderful congregation and city. Although I have many times now been a guest in your country, this is my first time visiting Hungary outside Budapest. I am invited to talk about Unitarianism in Norway. As I understand I now have about 20 to 30 minutes at my disposal. But I do hope you forgive me if this may take some more time Hungarian translation included.

But first of all I would like to introduce myself. My name is Knut Heidelberg. I am a former teacher serving in junior high school – grade 14 to 16 - and a former Evangelical-Lutheran minister and catechist of the Church of Norway, or as we say; The State Church. Norway is one of the very few countries left in the world that still maintains the state church model. About 80% of the population in Norway are members of this church. As a student in 1978 I got interested in Unitarianism and since then our One Lord has been so kind to guide me step by step in my strange spiritual journey and moving to your Unitarian tradition. Today I share my time between serving the small Unitarian movement in Norway as Unitarian pastor, translating and writing, and otherwise practising Gestalt therapy in my hometown Askim.

In Oslo in the 80’ies there existed one or two small Unitarian discussion groups among students at the University of Oslo, and later even within very liberal ministers in the State Church (I believe these groups are no longer active). Perhaps it is more correct to say it was religious freethinking groups than plain Unitarians. But from this milieu the idea of restoring the first Norwegian Unitarian church slowly emerged. But as often experienced people come and go, and in the long run there is only a small dedicated group left. This was what happened in this case too. Still we continued to maintain some activity also during the 90’ies when the plans of restoration grew more and more serious. It was probably from 1995 on we started to consider us not simply a group but more like a congregation, but because some of us at that time actually worked inside the State Church we also had to be careful not to draw to much attention to our Unitarianism. It was a long process guided by Our Lord. Looking back that is the only explanation I see because it was a fragile Unitarian plant that had started to grow and only protected by the Lord it was and is given life. Then - four years ago, in 2005, we actually managed officially and according to Norwegian law to restore the first Norwegian Unitarian church from 1895 and had it registered by the State. I seem to remember the ‘we’ I now am referring to then was 37 members of which only a handful was able to meet on a regular basis.

I will soon jump back in time and tell you about this first Unitarian church. But to stay in the present: At the moment there is in Norway one registered Unitarian Christian church following the tradition going back to the edict at Torda and bishop Francis David. This church is not a local church, but registered as a national church. And the 37 have grown to 100. We have also managed to get The County Governor Office representing the King of Norway and his government to appoint the first Norwegian Unitarian Christian superintendent.

This is to say there actually is a Unitarian bishop’s office in Norway, even if we prefer to use the title ‘superintendent’ and not bishop. And the holder of this office also has the right and power to ordain Unitarian ministers later to be approved by the County governor’s office. You see, in Norway a rightly called and installed and ordained minister of a registered church, has to be approved by the State represented by the County governor’s office. This because the ordained person is also given the power to represent the King as his civil servant and to officiate at legal weddings. In Norway you may be legal wed either by the State or by a church given this right. Our Norwegian Unitarian Church received in 2006 the right to perform legal weddings anywhere within the Kingdom of Norway (not outside). At the moment Norway is the only country among the Nordic countries where you to day may have a legal official Unitarian wedding. I will return to this later because it also opens up for a problem.

But let us now stop and move back in time. To understand Unitarianism to day we also have to know its history. Before I continue on present day’s Unitarianism in Norway allow me briefly to outline its history. Let me already stress that this history shows us that for hundred years ago the Unitarian churches in that time’s Hungary supported and helped the Unitarians in Norway. In other words, there exists in history a link between Unitarians in 1909 Hungary and Norway. Sadly history destroyed this link – wars and dictators and evil ideologies - but never the less the link can not be removed. I will now tell you about our common connection in history. About what brings Unitarians in Hungary and Romania and Norway together as one Unitarian family.

In my hand I hold the copy of this link. The original is safe back in my office. Yes, it is a letter. Very few people have so far seen it. This is a letter written in 1909 by your bishop Ferencz Jósef. When I some years ago worked on my thesis on the history of Unitarianism in Norway it turned up in the archive of the late Norwegian Unitarian minister Herman Haugerud who died in 1937. Only the will and guidance of our One Father in Heaven made it possible to save this letter from destruction. Unfortunately there is no time to tell you the history of how this letter turned up. Perhaps another time. Now history outlined to understand the present.

As mentioned the first Norwegian Unitarian church was established in 1895 by Kristofer Janson who had been ordained Unitarian minister in the USA and worked there for many years. After a major conflict among the Unitarian congregation Janson was forced to leave his church in 1898 and in 1900 many other members also left. In 1900 the church had about 100 members and 30 of them left. So it was a major exodus of which it would never recover. And for the next 37 years this church existed it would never again have more than 110 members.

After the tragedy of 1900 the Unitarian congregation calls the Norwegian Unitarian minister Herman Haugerud then working in the USA. He arrives in 1904 and shortly thereafter sets out on a tour to England and the USA to collect money to erect a Unitarian church building in Oslo. He had many Unitarian contacts which also included the Hungarian Unitarian Church at that time. To day what is left of his correspondence with Hungarian Unitarians is only the letter I showed you. In this letter bishop Ferencz informs Haugerud that the Unitarian churches of Hungary have collected 1,000 Hungarian Crowns to be sent to Haugerud in order to help erecting the church building in Oslo. So in 1909 Hungarian Unitarians were very well informed about Unitarianism in Norway and even taking active part in building a Unitarian church in Oslo. Then came First World War and everything that followed up to the fall of communism in 1989. The link between Hungarian and Norwegian Unitarians seemed to fade and disappear in 1937 when Haugerud died. Unfortunately no Unitarian church building was ever erected and nobody knows what happened to the money bishop Ferencz sent to a bank in Oslo. I will now leave history and move on to the present day Unitarian situation.

The Unitarian church in Norway today is named ‘The Bét Dávid Unitarian Association (The Norwegian Unitarian Church)’. It is a long and complicated name but not without a reason. At the moment only the phrase Bét Dávid is important to understand our Unitarian identity. Bét is Hebrew for “house” and we use the Hebrew word to indicate our connection to Jesus as a Jewish person, not a god. ‘Dávid’ you all know. He is the founder of your Unitarian church, bishop Francis David. The phrase ‘Bét Dávid’ is there to tell everyone that we in the Norwegian Unitarian church belong to the house of bishop Francis David and following Jesus according to that tradition. When finally able to register our church in 2005 we did so by restoring the 1895 By-laws of the first Norwegian church. So even if this church officially ceased to exist in 1937 it was brought back to life in 2005. And at the same time also the now 100 years old link between you and us in Norway is back.

We in the Norwegian Unitarian church do indeed consider us part of the Unitarian Christian tradition found in Hungary and Romania. So strong is this identification that no Norwegian will ever be ordained to Unitarian pastor in our church without an official Unitarian blessing ceremony officiated by a minster of a Unitarian church either in Hungary or Romania. Myself I received this blessing in Budapest in 2007 from many Unitarian ministers in The Hungarian Unitarian Church. Some of you are here today. Last month we ordained another Unitarian pastor to serve in Norway. He too had to travel to Budapest in order first to receive the blessing from a Unitarian minister of The Hungarian Unitarian Church. Only then we would ordain him. It is important to stress this strong link between you and us.

So how does the Norwegian Unitarian church actually look today? Well, we have about 100 members and at the moment two Unitarian pastors of whom one is officially approved superintendent by Norwegian authorities. This year we officiated at 13 legal Unitarian weddings and at the moment 12 couples have contacted us to have Unitarian weddings next year. We are by the government encouraged to engage in prison care ministry and are now preparing for this hopefully beginning next year. In Oslo we have rented a meeting-place for monthly meditation-meetings. Unfortunately we do not have much money and will only be able to maintain this meeting until March next year. In another town called Skien we are in the process of creating a Unitarian congregation. According to our understanding of congregation, we consider a congregation established everywhere we manage to on a regular basis have two or three persons gathered in the name of Jesus. As you know Jesus told us where two or three are together in his name, he too will be. That is the minimum for talking about a congregation. How many members the Unitarian congregation in Skien will have, we do not know because we will officially open the congregation Sunday November 15 with a lecture on Unitarianism followed by a Communion Service using the beautiful Communion Set we received as a gift from a Unitarian church in Romania. On the Lord’s table we will have the Church flag of Bela Bartok Unitarian Church in Budapest, also a kind gift from that congregation and late bishop Csaba Rázmány. All this on Francis David Day - another indication of our strong link to the Unitarian tradition we are part of.

At the moment we have three problems. Our members are shattered all over Norway. This makes it almost impossible to maintain meetings. We do a try in Oslo and Skien. In Oslo the meditation group that started this month consists of five persons and my guess is that the beginning of the congregation in Skien will probably not collect more than ten persons. So the situation is 100 members living far apart from each other. Isolated in a Unitarian solitude. We have still not solved this problem. At the moment we maintain contact via the Internet, phone, and pastor visiting as many as possible. It involves lot of travelling for the pastor.

The second problem is of course money. From State and county we receive some support but far from enough to rent a place to have regular meetings during the year. We only are able to pay for six meetings each year. Unfortunately we have trouble borrowing churches in Norway which would not cost that much, because as Unitarians we are not considered to be Christians. In summertime we try to solve this problem by having some meetings outdoors in old church ruins but in wintertime it is not possible. And in Norway the summer is short and the rest of the year sometimes seems to be winter. At the moment we try not to use private homes but we probably have to change this in the future.

I mentioned earlier on that weddings opened up for a problem, and this is our third problem. We have in fact so many couples asking for Unitarian weddings that we have to turn down most of them. The popular wedding-months are in summertime and at the moment we actually have to say no more than about 12 weddings a year. Most of the couples are Norwegians but this year we have also wed non-Norwegian couples and next year there will also be more couples from other countries than Norway. There is a special reason for this.

The reason is the change of the Norwegian Law of Marriage. In 2008 Norway accepted legal same-sex weddings to start January this year. Every church having the right to wed in Norway may if they want to officiate at same-sex weddings. Most Christian churches in Norway refuse to do this. To my knowledge only the Norwegian Unitarian church has accepted to officiate at same-sex weddings. This is the reason for many couples coming to Norway to have their wedding. They come from countries where this is not legal and ask for a legal same-sex marriage in Norway. And many of them want a Christian marriage with prayer and blessings by a pastor.

That same-sex weddings are controversial and that we are facing many theological problems, we of course are very well aware of. We can manage that. But we did not foresee the massive attacks we receive from other Christians. It is everything from being called bad names in public to be refused to advertise in Christian newspapers and denied the right to access churches. In one way, to accept officiating same-sex weddings the Norwegian Unitarian church damaged its struggle to be accepted as a Christian church among other Christian churches. On the other hand we have also won support from the ordinary Norwegian. Most of the Norwegians are in support of same-sex weddings. It is too early to say something about the consequences part from at the moment more and more Norwegians learn there is a Norwegian Unitarian church simply because we are the only Christian church having pastors that officiate at such weddings.

Well, so far the Norwegian Unitarian church. As you understand there is a living Norwegian Unitarian tradition going back to 1895 and this tradition is linked to your Unitarian tradition going even further back to the 16th century. And together we move further and further back to Jesus where we belong together with all members of the Christian family. Still I can not conclude without saying something about another movement that is found in Oslo to day. The Unitarian Universalists.

Some years ago a couple from America moved to Norway. They are Unitarian Universalists and eager to start such a group in Oslo. Already back in America they got in touch with me and we corresponded via the Internet. In Oslo I helped them to get in contact with individual Unitarian Universalists – mostly Americans. By 2007 they created The Norwegian Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, which by 2008 started to have meetings and has now done so once a month except in the summer-holiday. And some of the members are attending retreats by the European Unitarian Universalists. Some did also attend the Council Meeting of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalist held in Kolozsvar in the beginning of September. So if you too attended some of you surely have met representatives from this new group in Norway. Of course this group does not identify as a Christian group only but consists of people from various religious backgrounds. Part from personal friendship and that one of the founders of this group is a relative to mine, there is no connection concerning meetings and other activities between this Unitarian Universalist group and the Norwegian Unitarian church.

But there is a formal connection as both the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and the Unitarian Church in May this year together created a Unitarian umbrella organization which now has become provisional member of The International Council of Unitarian and Universalists. This umbrella organization is now the only possible official Norwegian Unitarian link to International Council of Unitarian and Universalists.

So let me sum up everything as follows:

In 1895 the first Norwegian Unitarians planted the Unitarian seed and the Unitarian plant started to grow in a hostile soil. Our Lord has protected His little Unitarian plant and called some of us to nurse the small Unitarian garden in Norway. Today more than hundred years later the plant is still a small and fragile plant which has not even started to blossom. But I like to think its roots are getting stronger and stronger. And if the future will bring Unitarian spring and summer the plant will blossom. On the other hand, if the future will bring Unitarian winter the plant will survive because of its strong roots. And then one day hundred years to come another Unitarian gardener will continue our work. As we continue the work of the Unitarian gardeners than more than hundred years ago planted the Unitarian seed they inherited from bishop Francis David.

Thank you for your attention. And may the Lord bless you all.

New Norwegian Unitarian publication.

There exist almost no modern publications on Unitarianism written in the Norwegian language. And The Schweitzer Publisher is the only Norwegian publishing firm focusing on Unitarian literature. In 2008 The Schweitzer Publisher published a Norwegian translation of the Hungarian Unitarian Catechism by Ferencz Jósef. This month a small leaflet titled Hva er kristen unitarisme? (What is Unitarian Christendom?) will be found in Norwegian libraries and bookshops. But already now you may download the leaflet here: http://unitarisme.albert-schweitzer.com/

Unitarian Ordination 2009.

Just a note about a contemporary historical Unitarian event that takes place in Budapest Sunday September 9. That day the Norwegain Kjell Morten Bråten is to be ordained to Unitarian priesthood. He will serve in Norway and together with others hopefully manage to create a Unitarian group in the town Skien. It is interesting that the first attempt to establish such a group in Skien took place about 100 years ago, when the Norwegian Unitarian pastor Herman Haugerud, baptized several children in Skien and hoped to establish a congregation there. This failed but now we see another try. Good luck, Kjell Morten.

The first Norwegian Unitarian book of sermons.

To my knowledge the only Norwegian Unitarian book of sermons ever published is «Lys og Frihed» («Light and Freedom») by the Unitarian pastor and writer Kristofer Janson (1841-1917). In 1892 - a couple of years before he left the USA to return to Norway - Janson published this collection of his Unitarian sermons and arranged them in such a manner that we find one sermon for each Sunday in the church year. For long this book of sermons has been almost impossible to get but now, thanks to Biblio Bazaar Reproduction Series, we may purchase a facsimile of Janson's Unitarian book of sermons via Amazon (http://amazon.com). Being a facsimile the text is old 1892-Norwegian and printed with the German types («Gothic letters») that was common for this period. For those of you reading Norwegian and don't find 1892-Norwegian German types that difficult to decipher, this book is much recommended both for inspiration to our religious life and to deeper knowledge of the Christian Unitarianism that Janson "imported" from USA and planted in Norway. The book is also available for free download at Google but then not all pages will be intact (some of them blank).

The link between the Unitarians in Norway 1895 and today

To day May 4 is the birthday of Kristofer Janson, b. 1841, died November 17 1917 in Denmark. Janson is to day remembered as a Norwegian writer and few associate his name with Unitarianism. But in 1895 it was he that symbolized the new Unitarian movement when he created the first Norwegian Unitarian church, The Church of Brotherhood (Unitarian Society). He was probably the first Norwegian ever to received Unitarian ordination. The ceremony took place in 1881 in Third Unitarian Church in Chicago, and then he was asked by The American Unitarian Association and Western Conference to serve as minister among Scandinavian settlers in Minnesota. This he did until about 1893 when he returned to Norway.

Janson was not the first to introduce Unitarianism to Norway. Hans Tambs Lyche (1859-1898) started doing this one year before Janon's return. But Janson was the first to establish a Unitarian church in Norway. It is this historical church that to day have been continued via The Bét Dávid Unitarian Association (The Norwegian Unitarian Church). Janson's church died out in 1937 but today's Norwegian Unitarian Church has restored. This happened first in 1995 and finally 2005 when the church registered at the Governor's Office. Their by-laws is based on the same laws that once guided Janson's church. In fact Kristofer Janson is the historical founder of Unitarforbundet Bét Dávid (The Norweigan Unitarian Church) too which first was established 1895 and then again 2005.

Janson's address to IARF conference in Berlin 1910

The Unitarian pastor Kristofer Janson is honored in history as the founder of the first Norwegian Unitarian church. As often in history no single person can take all credit for major achievements. Several people assisted Janson in his work and without their help there would probably not have been a Unitarian church in Norway as early as 1895. One of these persons supporting Janson was the Norwegian writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. It is much thanks to Bjørnson that Janson was ordained Unitarian minister in the USA in the beginning of the 1880-ties.

To day when looking for something else (as it often is) I stumbled upon Janson's address to the Fifth Universal Congress for Free Christianity and Religious Freedom held in 1910 in Berlin (organized by The International Association for Religious Freedom, IARF, I would suppose). His address is titled "The Religious Views of Bjørnson and Ibsen". You find the document for reading online or/and for download here http://openlibrary.org/details/religiousviewsof00jansiala

From the point of understanding the history of Unitarianism in Norway it is an interesting document even if it neither Bjørnson nor Ibsen were Unitarians - but never the less high profile Norwegian freethinkers. The document is also interesting seen from the history of the first Norwegian Unitarian movement. Janson was forced to leave his Unitarian church in 1898 and a major group of members also left the church in 1900. From 1900 to 1906 there existed two different Unitarian groups in Norway which did not have much in common and probably did not cooperate very much. One was lead by Janson and the other was his former church, now lead by Herman Haugerud.

At the IARF conference Janson was no more a leading Unitarian figure in Norway but more occupied with a small Unitarian church in Denmark (not the one to day in Copenhagen). Reading Janson's selfbiography, his novel "Ensom" ("Alone") and not published letters it is clear that he at the time of the conference was a bitter person that felt betrayed by the Norwegian Unitarian movement and his former church in Norway. Janson died in 1917.

Unitarian Pastor installed in Norway according to Transylvanian tradition.

More than hundred years ago - on Monday July 23 1906 - the Norwegian Unitarian pastor Herman Haugerud (1864-1937) gave a lecture on Unitarianism in the Norwegian town Skien. He reported in the periodical "Unitaren" that many people attended and that he hoped to organize a Unitarian society in this town. Before he left he baptized four children. This is the earliest known attempt for organized Unitarianism in this town. What happened later we do not know. The history is silent and nothing is known about any Unitarian society in Skien and the four Unitarian children.

To day - April 9 2009 - 103 years later another attempt to establish a Unitarian group in Skien takes place. Kjell Morten Bråten was installed as Unitarian pastor to The Bét Dávid Unitarian Association (The Norwegian Unitarian Church) following the Transylvanian Unitarian tradition. The ceremony took place in Kapitelberget Church Ruins in Skien overlooking the town and in front of an altar decorated with the former church flag of Bela Bartok Unitarian Church in Budapest to symbolize the now hundred years old and close connection between Unitarians in Hungary and Norway. To see photos and videos of the ceremony please visit http://morgenstierne.org/kjellemann/index.html

Historical documents of Herman Haugerud

The following historical documents of Unitarian pastor Herman Haugerud are now available. Click the document to change size. You may save the documents if wanted.


Above: Herman Haugerud's Certificate of Matriculation to The Meadville Theological School 1887


Above: Herman Haugerud's Certificate of Ordination 1895. Written on paper marked Tacoma Traction Company. Two stamps engraved in paper: First Unitarian Society, Puyallop, Wash. and Circuit Court St. Croix Co. Wisconsin.


Above: Haugerud's Marriage Licence issued by the State of Minnesoda 1895

The beginning of organized Unitarianism in Norway 1893-1895.

The periode 1893 to 1895 represents the beginning of organized Unitarianism in Norway.

After many years serving as Unitarian ministers in the USA both Hans Tambs Lyche (1859-1898) and Kristofer Janson (1841-1917) return to Norway and introduce Unitarianism mainly in Oslo (then named Kristiania (or Christiania)). For long historians considered Janson to be the first and only to carry out this mission, but as new research (see endnote) has revealed this may now be questioned. This short article will look into the whereabouts of Janson and Tambs Lyche from they returned and till Janson establishes the first Norwegian Unitarian church in 1895 and in this way demonstrate why Janson no longer can be considered the only one first to introduce Unitarianism to Norway and that Tambs Lyche and Janson independently of each other tried to organize a Unitarian movement. Only one of the would partly succeed.

Surely Tambs Lyche and Janson must have know each other from the Unitarian ministry in USA (the US Scandinavian Unitarian milieu at the end of the 19th century was easy to know). Despite this there are no records saying their return to Norway in 1893 was planned or in some way part of a mutual Unitarian mission. It is said that the reason for Tambs Lyche's return was that he in Oslo received a position as editor to a periodical called Kringsjaa. The reasons why Janson left America are not that easy to see but his marriage was not working and because of his involvement with Spiritualism he was criticized by fellow Scandinavian Unitarians. He was disappointed, and there were little that held him back in America. It is probably a coincidence they both returned the same year.

Kristofer Janson almost immediately embarks on a lecture tour visiting the major cities of Norway. His lectures were to be published in the book «Foredrag» (1894). Later he was to write in his self biography that this tour was to test how Unitarianism would be received in Norway. But looking at the lectures to day this seems strange because they are not all dealing with Unitarianism but also with Spiritualism and re-incarnation. It may of course be that Janson considered these things to be important parts of Unitarianism. Then the spring 1894, he leaves Norway and travels to Denmark. At this time in Denmark there was no Unitarian church but a beginning Unitarian movement. Janson gathers a group for Unitarian worship in Aarhus. This group would later be «Aarhus Free Church Society». Janson would also be a source of inspiration for those founding the Unitarian congregation in Copenhagen, which to day still exists. The congregation in Aarhus has since long disappeared.

Although Janson's work in Denmark is interesting the important here is the fact that he left Norway 1894. If his reason for returning to Norway would be to test how Unitarianism was received, why then leave? It seems somewhat bold to think he wanted by his own to introduce Unitarianism in both Norway and Denmark. On the other hand, Janson had both friends and family in Denmark and Norway. Since no records seems to shed a light over why he after his lecture tour left, my guess is that he in 1893 and 1894 was unsure of where to settle. This is to say that it was not a Unitarian mission or an attempt to «test» if Norway was ready for Unitarinism that was the main reason for Janson. He was simply unsure where to live. In 1895 he would end up in Norway but as often as possible spend the summer holidays in Denmark.

Hans Tambs Lyche on the other hand seems to have had a strong wish to introduce Unitarianism and as soon as possible to organize a Norwegian Unitarian church. Shortly after he settled in Oslo he published a leaflet addressed to all «liberal minded people». Here he outlines his understanding of Unitarianism and suggests that there should be organized a Unitarian church and a Unitarian society. This leaflet resulted in three things: 1. He ended up discussing Unitarianism with the State Church pastor Thorvald Klaveness (1844-1915). This discussion took place in the periodical «For Kirke og Kultur» (For Church and Culture) and is probably the first Unitarian Norwegian printed discussion. 2. About 30 people would gather in Oslo interested in establishing a Unitarian church but for some reasons Tambs Lyche argued that this was not enough and therefore no Unitarian church was founded in 1894. On the other hand he collected the names and addresses of those interested. This list he gave to Kristofer Janson on his return to Norway late 1894. 3. When failing to organize the first church he turns to publishing and creates the first Unitarian periodical to be published in Norway, «Frie Ord» (Free Words).

It is a puzzle why Tambs Lyche did find 30 interested people a too small number in order to organize a Unitarian church. When Janson returned from Denmark and received the list, he used it to organize the first Norwegian Unitarian church in 1895, «Broderskabets Kirke» (The Church of Brotherhood). And the church records show that the membership 1895 was almost 30 people. Still there may be one reason, and that is Tambs Lyche's failing halth. In 1984 he has only four years still to live. It may be his reason for not establish the first Unitarian church was that his tuberculosis put a stop for it. It is not know how ill he actually was in 1894 but only three years later it is obvious he is no longer capable to keep up with all his work.

When Kristofer Janson in Norwegian history is given the honor of introducing Unitarianism to Norway it is because he in December 1894 arrived in Oslo, gave a speech explaining Unitarianism and then encourage people to establish a Unitarian church which he would lead. It is fair to say that Janson was a very much popular and famous writer that always collected large groups of people in public. The newspapers report that the audience applauded when Janson delivered his speech. In January 1895 The Church of Brotherhood was established and the first Norwegian Unitarian services took place in Oslo. I think it is fair to say that Tambs Lyche in 1894 was the one really preparing for this church but it was Janson that got the honor that secured him a place in Norwegian history as the one to introduce Unitarianism.

On the other hand this honor was short lived in the Unitarian milieu. Only some months after the foundation of The Church of Brotherhood Tambs Lyche started to print critical articles about Janson's Unitarianism. In these articles he is warning against the Spiritualism of Janson and also arguing that Janson's person seems to be too important. Shortly before he dies, Tambs Lyche writes an article saying there should be another Unitarian church in Norway. He was obviously very disappointed. And so was Janson's congregation. In 1898 Janson was forced to quit as minister to the congregation and 1900 the congregation split into one group that later would follow Janson and another that would call a new Unitarian pastor from the USA, Herman Haugerud. What then happened is not the topic of this short article but will be dealt with in an article to come later this year.

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This article is based upon: Knut Heidelberg: Frisinnet kristendom : unitarismen i Norge 1893-1937 (2006, Menighetsfakutetet, Oslo – The Lutheran School of Theology, Oslo). For details consult this thesis or contact webmaster.

Historical sources from The Church of Brotherhood

The Church of Brotherhood was the name of the first Unitarian church in Norway founded by Rev. Kristofer Janson in 1895. I have scanned and uploaded some historical sources related to this church here http://morgenstierne.org/norskunitarisme/broderskabetskirke.htm

Norwegian Unitarian hymn books

Friday I received from America the hymn book pastor Kristofer Jansons edited when he startet his Unitarian ministry among the Norwegian settlers in Minnesota. His headquarter was Minneapolis where the Unitarian congregation disposed of a wonderful church building (later to be sold and become synagoge).

The hymn book was published 1883 and titled «Salmer og Sange for Kirke og Hjem» («Hymns and songs for church and home»). In the Foreword Janson writes that liberal Christians no longer can use the old hymn books (probably referring to the standard and even to day well known Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran hymn book edited by pastor Landstad). Janson therefore collected hymns that did not preach Trinitarian Christian theology and in some cases – where the hymns was so dear and well-known to the Norwegians – he admits having changed the text.

What is interesting from our Norwegian Unitarian view is that Janson included many hymns and songs by Henrik Wergeland (1808-1845) – a person who many of the first Unitarians in Norway at the end of the 19th century regarded as one of the first Norwegian Unitarians. If not the very first. Of course Wergeland was not a Unitarian but he was a very liberal minded person, a famous poet and played an important role in the formation of what to day is Norway. For more information about Henrik Wergeland, see Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Wergeland

We have to day information saying Janson edited two Unitarian hymn books. The first was the one mentioned above. The second after his return to Norway and after he was forced to leave the Norwegian Unitarian church he founded 1895. The second hymn book was published in Oslo (then named Krisitiania) in 1901 and titled «Sanger og Sange» («Hymns and songs»).

It has not been time to compare these two hymn books and part from the fact that the 1883-hymn book has 386 pages, includes also some American Unitarian songs and different writers while the 1901-hymn book has 92 pages and seems mostly to include Jansons own hymns and songs – part from this little is so far known about the two hymn books.

But one very interesting comment was made in the Foreword of the 1883-hymn book, here it says that this hymn book includes some American Unitarian songs in case the Services sometimes should be in English. This is interesting because it indicates that Janson preached Unitarianism in Minneapolis in Norwegian and only among Norwegians (or Scandinavians). While other Norwegian Unitarian pastors also working in America would preach in English also and therefore not just among Scandinavians, such as Hans Tambs Lyche and Herman Haugerud. Earlier studies have shown that these Norwegian Unitarian preaching in English were more liberal in their Unitarian identity than Kristofer Janson.

The Unitarian Church in Sweden

Although the Unitarian blog first and mostly deals with the history of Unitarianism here in Norway, I this time feel it proper to forward a link which take you to a short dockument with updated information (2007) about The Unitarian Church in Sweden. Here's the link http://www.morgenstierne.org/2007mmvii/unitarisme/densvenskeunitarkirke.pdf

Please forgive me if some of you would have received a similar message earliger to day.

The history of Norwegian Unitarianism

The history of Norwegian Unitarianism 1893-1937 is fascinating and exciting. Now I have translated one of my articles dealing with this topic and uploaded it as pdf file. You find the article here:
http://morgenstierne.org/2007mmvii/unitarisme/18931937.pdf

Haugerud at Clarence Road Unitarian Church

In 1909 pastor Herman Haugerud of the Norwegian Unitarian Association (former Church of Bortherhood) was invited to speak at Clarence Road Unitarian Church at the Sunday Evening Service March 14th, 7 P.M. On the invitation card (above) we see Haugerud titled "Minister of Unitarian Church, Christiania, Norway". In 1909 the Norwegian Unitarian church would have less than hundred members but still they appealed for money form Unitarians in America, England, and Hungary. Haugerud's visit to Clarence Road Unitarian Church was part of the Norwegian Unitarians struggle to collect money to erect a church building in Christiania (now Oslo). This project failed.

The Clarence Road Unitarian Church has since long ago been demolished but thanks to help from Howard Hague at The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (UK) we now have a drawing of the interior of this church. The drawing is found in Pictures of Unitarian Churches by Emily Sharpe, Unitarian Christian Publishing Office, London, 1901.

(To get a better view, click on the drawing to open a larger window and if necessary click once more.)