page_title: Baptist Union of Norway
section_title: Establishment of institutions
hierarchical_section_title: Baptist Union of Norway / History / Establishment of institutions
caption_attribution_description: Norsk bokmål: Sel baptistkirke på Otta
context_page_description: The Baptist Union of Norway is a Baptist Christian denomination in Norway. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Stabekk.
context_section_description: The Baptist Union of Norway became a founding member of the Baptist World Alliance in 1905 and J. A. Øhrn became an inaugural vice president. The Norwegian Baptist Seminary was founded in 1910, allowing both pastors and missionaries to be educated domestically for the first time. Olaf J. Øie was hired as the first rector, a role he held until his death in 1943. The seminary soon offered a bachelor-level degree.
  A separate Norwegian mission was created at the annual conferences in 1915. Fund-raising secured that Bernhard Ålbu was able to travel to Belgian Congo. This was the first time that Norwegian Baptist missionaries traveled without being under the auspices of the ABMU. Due to the First World War he was not able to travel until 1918. The effort was concentrated in the Bas-Uele District, especially in the settlements of Bili and Monga. The network was gradually expanded and by the 1970s there were additional missionary stations in Bondo, Butu, Likati and Ndu. By 1945 the Congo mission had baptized 3,000 converts.
  The Baptist Women's Association of Norway was founded in 1916 to coordinate women's work between the congregations. This included both evangelism and missions, as well as annual seminars. The Baptist Youth Association was founded in 1922 to coordinate the activities of the youth associations in each congregation. From 1921 the local congregation operated a fishermen's home in Honningsvåg. Another attempt to spread the word in Northern Norway took place through the "skerries mission". Boats were used to reach coastal hamlets without regular church services.
  The organization saw its membership hit a plateau during the 1900s, but then saw significant growth again during the 1910s. Membership numbers grew again during the 1930s and hit an all-time high of 7,500 members in the late 1940s. By then the Pentecostalism was increasing in Norway. Many Baptists changed to Pentecostal congregations and locally there was often striving for the same crowd. Similarities in theological stances, especially regarding baptism and congregationalism, often eased transition between congregations.
  Along with the Baptist Union of Denmark and the Baptist Union of Sweden, the Norwegian union established a congregation in San Francisco, the Scandinavian Seamen Mission in 1946. Two Norwegians have been secretary-general of the Baptist World Alliance. The first was Arnold T. Øhrn from 1948 to 1960, and his successor Josef Nordenhang from 1960 to 1969. The Baptist Folk High School was inaugurated in 1958. It changed its name to Holtekilen Folk High School in 1979.
  Many of the smallest congregations had problems funding both a church and the pastor's wages. In some congregations this was solved by only hiring the pastor part-time, or having them funded through their spouse working. In any case wages were comparatively low for the education. From the 1960s a "wage fund" was created, whereby larger congregations subsidized the wages of pastors in smaller congregations. The Baptist Study Council was established in 1972 to publish study circles. This agency remained until 2010. The missionary activity was expanded from 1984, when the annual conference voted to allow mission to other countries than Zaïre.
  Oppdal Baptist Congregation left the union in 1986. During the mid 1980s the union experienced major economic problems and a large deficit. The congress of the European Baptist Federation was hosted in Lillehammer in 1994, with the union as the organizer. Four thousand delegates participated at the event at Håkons Hall. The union launched its web site on 19 February 1996. Banneret was reorganized in 2004 and changed from a weekly newspaper to a monthly magazine. It took the name Baptist.no in 2009.
  Oslo Third Baptist Congregation was excluded from the union in 2006 after it had elected a member living in a same-sex partnership to its board. After decades with stagnating membership, the Baptist community experienced rising membership numbers and increasing number of congregations from the late 2000s. The Norwegian Baptist Seminary was reorganize
caption: Sel Baptist Church in Otta
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