Sara Oust
Sara Oust (1778–1822) was a Norwegian lay minister and follower of Hans Nielsen Hauge. She was one of the first female religious leaders within the Haugean movement. Biography. Sara Oust was born at the village of Vingelen in the parish of Tolga in Hedmark, Norway. She was the daughter of Engebret Engebretsen Vingelen and Mari Persdatter Røe. Being fatherless at the age of seven, Sara Oust helped her mother carry coal at the Røros Copper Works ("Røros kopparverk")"." She first became aware of the teachings of Hans Nielsen Hauge in 1799. She subsequently preached in Trøndelag between 1799  and 1805 alongside another female lay minister, Randi Hevle from Drivdalen in Sør-Trøndelag, and later Kirsten Fossen from Kvikne. She reportedly had a beautiful singing voice and she also wrote psalms. Under the Conventicle Act of 1741, Norwegian citizens at the time did not have the right to religious assembly without a Church of Norway minister present. She successfully defended a collective of Haugeans from the local authorities, who gave up their attempts to implement the law after having seen she had too much support from the community. She first met Hans Nielsen Hauge in Oppdal during 1803. In  1805, Sara Oust married Ola Toresen Røe (1776–1862), who was a farmer in Vingelen. Although following the death of Hans Nielsen Hauge in 1824, the Haugean Movement became less supportive of lay ministers.