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.