The link for the for this Website page is:
http://www.stanet.ch/apd/news/1069.html
·
Start
·
News
·
Archiv
·
Suche
·
Links
·
Kontakt
·
Über APD
New Christian Council of Norway spans all major churches
Oslo/Norway, 04.04.2006
/ ENI/APD
The two ecumenical councils will merge
into
one in September2006
Two Christian church councils in Norway have agreed to
form a new national church body spanning all the major churches including
Lutheran, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Adventists and
Pentecostal denominations
The new national grouping will formally be inaugurated on
September 1, 2006, and results from the merger of the "Christian Council
of Norway" (NKR) and the "Norwegian Free Church Council" (NFR).
This merger was agreed by both bodies in separate meetings on March 30.
The NFR was founded in 1902 as an instrument for the free
churches to promote their religious rights in a country where the (Lutheran)
Church of Norway is a state church.
The NKR was established in 1992 as a council of churches
with a broad ecumenical agenda, and grouping all major denominations except the
Pentecostal Movement.
The willingness of representatives of the Pentecostal
Movement to work together with the Roman Catholic Church has been seen as a key
element in the founding of the new grouping, which in English will be known as
the "Christian Council of Norway" (CCN).
Torsten Mentzoni, the pastor of the Tabernaklet
Pentecostal Congregation in Bergen, told the national daily newspaper Vart Land
that one reason why Pentecostal Christians in Norway had been reticent to work
with the Roman Catholic Church had been the experience of their counterparts in
Latin America, where Catholics are in a majority.
"We've seen strong antagonism in these countries,
and we've had negative experiences with the Roman Catholic Church there,"
said Mentzoni. "However, although we are sceptical about the Roman
Catholic Church as such, we've come to see Catholics in Norway as fellow
Christians."
Mentzoni said he hoped the new climate between Catholics
and Pentecostals in Norway would have positive effects in other parts of
Europe.
Else-Britt Nilsen, the general prioress of Dominican
sisters in Norway and France, said the charismatic movement has now become part
also of the Roman Catholic Church. "I've met Pentecostals with a positive
attitude to my church," she told Vart Land. "When we get to know each
other, we come closer."
She said churches in a secularised society needed to
cooperate, noting, "We have the Christian faith in common. Catholics and
Pentecostals are often close in moral issues."
Also taking part the newly established Christian Council
of Norway is the Norwegian Seventh-day Adventist Church. As a full member of
the NFR, they will join the CCN in the status of an Observer member church. The
Seventh-day Adventist Church has 71 local congregations with over 4.600 adult
baptized members. For the Norwegian Adventists, Tor Tjeransen, president of the
Norwegian Union, has participated in the merger process of the two councils.
According to a spokesperson of the CCN, Pastor Tjeransen played the role of a
counsellor and gave some useful suggestions for the completion of preparatory
documents.
The two church groupings that are merging have shared offices at Oslo's Church
House since 2000. [Editors: Oivind Ostang and Christian B. Schaeffler for
ENI/APD, with additional input from Ørnulf Steen]
(3'191
Chars)
|
Adventist
Press Service (APD) |
Christian
B. Schäffler (Editor-in-chief APD) |
URL: www.stanet.ch/apd/news/1069.html
| © 1997 - 2006 stanet.ch