A few weeks ago I shared with you what
I’d learned about churches in Antarctica.
Well, today I’m going to tell you just a tiny bit about the world’s
northernmost church, which is in Longyearbyen, Norway. Actually, however, it is deceiving to say
that Longyearbyen is a part of Norway because it is on the island of
Spitbergen, which is controlled by Norway, but which is many hundreds of miles
north of mainland Norway. It is much
farther north even than Iceland! It is so far
north actually that the sun sets on October 25 and then doesn’t rise until
March 8! So the little orphan Annie
would have been wrong had she lived in Longyearbyen. Sorry, the sun won’t come out tomorrow. It’s not only a day away. You'll have to wait 'til spring.
Longyearbyen was originally founded as
a coal mining settlement and there had been whaling in the area for centuries. About 2,000 people live there and there are
officially more registered snowmobiles than people. Do they ride two at a time? Who knows?
Maybe the tourists use them. Yes,
there are tourists who visit to see the aurora borealis as well as to see the
glaciers, reindeer, and polar bears.
The church in Longyearbyen is called the
Svalbard Church. It is a congregation of
the Church of Norway, which is Lutheran.
There is a pastor and two employees.
Although the congregation is officially Lutheran it serves as the one
church for everyone in the area. They
have a beautiful church facility and even have their own large café. According to what I’ve read, that
congregation has done a great job of being a welcoming place and people of hospitality
for all people. I think this church is a wonderful example of
a group of people of faith who realize that it can be really cold and dark out
there (literally and figuratively) so why not put everything else aside and
just be together. Give thanks to
God. Enjoy each other’s company. Get out of the cold. I read the reviews written by tourists who
have visited Longyearbyen and every one of them mentioned how warm, open,
welcoming, community oriented, and hospitable the Svalbard Church is. That sounds like true church to me. To tell you the truth, it makes me want to visit for a Sunday worship service. Amazing what hospitality can do, huh? It can make you want to visit a church 10,000 miles away practically on the north pole. It is that powerful.
Stop for a moment today and say a prayer for our
brothers and sisters in Christ of the Svalbard Church. Pray that God will continue to bless them in
their ministries of hospitality and that their worship and mission will bear
much fruit for the Kingdom of God. May
we all learn from their faithful, yet open, example.
Peace,
Everett
