Pentecostal congregations in Norway ( [], [], and []) is the largest Protestant free church in Norway with a total membership of 40,725 people in 2020.
Year Pentecostals Percent 1980 42,518 1.04% 1990 43,471 1.02% 2000 45,006 1.04% 2005 42,744 0.92% 2009 39,590 0.82%
The Pentecostal movement in Norway is a Christian movement. It is not a single organized unit, but consists of a community of 340 independent churches (free churches). The Norwegian Pentecostal movement runs humanitarian work, schools and missions in about 30 countries.
The Pentecostal movement follows a biblical, radical Christian teaching. The beliefs of water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit are the characteristics of the Pentecostal movement, and this is perceived as the greatest difference between Pentecostals and, for example, Lutherans. Pentecostal gatherings are often held in simple rooms with few religious decorations. A congregation is not considered the church building itself, but rather the Christian community. In Norway, the Gospel Centre is the largest joint initiative in the movement.
Thomas Ball Barratt brought the Pentecostal movement to Norway in 1907. Barratt did not want to establish a new Christian movement, but rather wanted the Christian communities to be renewed. That was not the case, and he became the founder of the Pentecostal movement in Norway. Barratt was active in Sweden, Denmark and England, and when he visited Denmark in 1907, it sparked the beginning of the Danish Pentecostal movement. Barratt was a key figure in the establishment of the Pentecostal movement in several European countries, particularly Sweden and England.
Prevalence
Public statistics show that the Norwegian Pentecostal movement has about 40,000 baptized members, and additionally, approximately 10,000 children of members. The number of members has remained stable over the past few years. (Numbers from 2006)
There are 340 Pentecostal churches in Norway. Most are located in traditional church buildings, but in recent years less-traditional church buildings have also been built, such as Jesus Church, which is a church aimed at youth.
The Pentecostal movement is considered among the world's fastest growing religious movements, with 600 million members.
The term Pentecostal movement covers the wider community. The Pentecostal movement worldwide is large and consists of many quite different free church congregations, organizations and societies, including the charismatic movement, the Jesus Movement, Baptists, the Word of Faith Movement, the Oasis Movement and many others. The term Pentecostal movement is used to refer to the community of Pentecostal churches with historical roots in the beginning of the Pentecostal revival. Their followers are called Pentecostals.
The Free Evangelical Fellowship, or ('the free friends') as they are also called, are considered by many as part of the Pentecostal movement. Historically, there have been some slight differences in the view of baptism in the Holy Spirit (spirit baptism). There are several other Pentecostal directions which in doctrine and practice are similar to Pentecostal movement, but which have a slightly different background and somewhat different teachings. These include the Word of Faith Movement and Maran Ata.
History The Pentecostal movement's roots go back to the Holiness Movement, which made its mark in America in the 19th century, but it was in 1906 that the Pentecostal movement and baptism of the Holy Spirit made a worldwide breakthrough at the revival on Azusa Street in Los Angeles. The Pentecostal revival of the early 1900s affected many established denominations, focusing on Jesus Christ, the key teachings of the Bible, and the Holy Spirit. Personal life as a Christian was also central and was expressed in an increased need for evangelism, prayer, and the use of spiritual gifts.
The term Pentecostal church was first used in the early 1900s by various congregations concerned with revival.
The baptism of the Spirit, as it was called, and Pentecostal revival came to Norway with Methodist priest Thomas Ball Barratt's return from the United States in December 1906. He had been on a fundraising trip for the construction of a building in Kristiania, now Oslo. Barratt had longed for something he called "the purification of the heart" and the baptism of the Spirit, and when he was in the United States he happened upon the magazine The Apostolic Faith which discussed this. From New York, where he stayed, he made contact with the spiritually baptized in Los Angeles, which changed his life. Some time later he himself experienced "being filled with the spirit" and the ability to speak in tongues.
Spiritual baptism in Norway When Barratt came to Kristiania in December 1906, it marked the beginning of several revival meetings with speaking in tongues. When Barratt stood at the podium in the gymnasium in Kristiania on 23 December 1906 and told of his spiritual baptism, he wept. This was the first meeting after his return, and although he did not utter a word, it was of great importance: the Spirit was present. The day after Christmas, more people came to experience similar things. By New Year 1907, ten people had been baptized in the Spirit. This is considered the beginning of the Pentecostal movement in Norway.
The meetings aroused great curiosity, and many often sought out the long meetings. People were saved or experienced a renewed Christian life. But many Christians were sceptical of Barratt's baptism in the Spirit, and the new revival faced strong opposition and criticism, in which the spiritually baptized were laughed at as religious fanatics. This contributed to the spread of the revival.
Initially, there was no set schedule or program at the meetings. The main content was likely to have been song, prayer and messages in the Spirit through speaking in tongues or prophetic speech. At first, there was no preaching in an orderly form. The Pentecostal movement at the beginning was more subjective and impulsive than, and in great contrast to, the more set form of church meeting among the Lutherans. Eventually preaching became central to the gatherings.
Revival and stagnation Despite ridicule and resistance, the Pentecostal movement grew rapidly. New congregations were formed mainly in southern and eastern Norway, and especially in Telemark. Church planting or establishing business in new places has always been central to the movement. When new congregations are established, so-called outposts are formed. These are not independent churches or denominations, but are subject to the parent church.
From New Year 1907 the revival in Kristiania spread with great speed throughout the country. In many places, regular meetings began. Barratt did not want to establish a new Christian movement, but rather wanted renewal in Christianity. That was not the case, and he became the founder of the Pentecostal movement in Norway.
Throughout the 1930s, Norway was characterized by revivals in several places. This affected a number of churches and denominations and was a period of growth for the entire Christian community in Norway.
From 1945, after the war, growth stagnated. This period was marked by a deeper and more personal dedication to prayer and fasting.
In 1937, thirty years after its establishment, there were 16,783 Pentecostals in Norway. At the 50th anniversary in 1957, there were 249 Pentecostal churches with 26,474 Pentecostals in Norway. In 2007, the figure was about 42,000, if children are included as well.
Dissenter Act The Dissenter Act restricted those who were not members of the State Church. The dissenters did not have full civil rights and at the same time were given some special duties. Dissenters were banned from several professions and faced, among other things, a ban on working as a teacher, nurse, civil servant, judge or minister. This led to a kind of "ghetto existence" for members of the free churches. This treatment made them feel disregarded by society.
Gradually, the law changed somewhat, and the distinction between dissenters and the other Norwegian citizens decreased. In 1969, the Dissenter Act was abolished, and the concept of dissent disappeared from Norwegian law. At the same time, the Norwegian constitution was amended to give full religious freedom in Norway.Paragraph 2 of the Constitution of Norway. The sentence "fri religionsutøvelse for alle" ['free exercise of religion for all'] was changed to "full religionsfrihet" ['full religious freedom'].
Churches On 18 May 1908, the first Norwegian Pentecostal church was founded in Skien. It was called ('the Tabernacle'). The background for the foundation of the congregation was pastor C. M. Seehuus' break with the Baptist congregation in Skien, a congregation which he himself led.
From 1910, several already-established congregations joined the movement, including Berøa Oslo, Betel Nærsnes, Filadelfia Skiptvet and Betania Kongsberg.
As late as 1916, almost ten years after its establishment in Norway, the first Pentecostal church in Kristiania was founded. It had 200 members, and the congregation had held meetings in various rented premises since 1910. Today it is called Filadelfia Oslo. The new Filadelfia was inaugurated in 1938 after a major rebuild. Filadelfia Oslo is the Norwegian Pentecostal movement's largest congregation.
Throughout the 1920s many new congregations were formed in several places in Norway, due to the impression of God's intervention in life and that the spiritual gifts, as described by the first Christian churches, were again in use.
Missionary work The Pentecostal Foreign Mission of Norway conducts missionary work in more than 30 countries on four continents. Missionary work has always been central to the Norwegian Pentecostal movement, which has 300 active missionaries, of which approximately 140 are currently abroad. They are also involved in several projects, humanitarian aid and relief. These are many missionaries compared to the movement's membership numbers. It is said that "there is one missionary for every 100 Pentecostals". This is because the movement is organized with many independent churches (denominations). From the Pentecostal view, according to the Bible's example in the Acts of the Apostles, it is the individual congregation that is responsible for missionaries. The close contact between a missionary in the field and a church at home in Norway has therefore been positive for missionary engagement.
In 1910, the first missionaries were sent to China (Henry and Parley Gulbrandsen), India ( and ), and Argentina.
In 1915, a mission organization by the name of ('the Free Evangelical Missionary Federation') was founded by T.B. Barratt. In 1920 the name was changed to ('Norway's Free Evangelical Heathen Mission). In 1929 Barratt pushed for its dissolution, which happened in 1932. From then on, it is the individual churches themselves that have been responsible for the missionaries being dispatched. The movement later did not have any joint mission organization with responsibility for missionary activities.
The Norwegian Pentecostal Church's External Mission (, PYM) is an office that coordinates practical things for missionaries, such as an overview of mission projects, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) support, visa applications, airline tickets and more.
In 1922, the first Pentecostal missionaries were sent to the Congo, and after a somewhat difficult establishment, this became a major mission field. The missionary work in Congo was given its own name, CELPA, in 1995, at the same time as the national organization took over.
In 1983, there were approximately 350 active missionaries in 30 countries and 70–80 graduates waiting to travel.
Conflicts and reconciliation