Bishop Robert reflects on his recent pastoral trip to Norway:

It was a joy to spend a long, rich and full weekend after Ascension Day visiting our congregations in Norway. The visit began in Stavanger, a city on the West Coast historically important for fishing but now associated much more with the oil industry. The Stavanger wharf houses (above) previously housed herring factories, salt and timber stores. 

We spent a pleasurable evening with the multi-national congregation. The Reverend Martin Chirume (on my right) is the recently appointed assistant chaplain in Norway with responsibility for Stavanger. Over supper I enjoyed a conversation with churchwarden Juliet, a petroleum engineer, about distillation processes and the economics of oil. I learnt that the restriction in oil supply associated with the Ukraine war had, rather ironically, led to a rise in oil prices which has benefited Stavanger, increasing its economic activity and inward migration. 

We were very pleased to be joined by The Very Revd. Stefan Emmerhoff, Dean of Stavanger Cathedral, and his wife Kamilla. He told me about the city’s longstanding links with St Swithun and Winchester in England. His cathedral is shortly coming to the end of a major three year renovation project, ready to be re-opened in time to celebrate its 900th anniversary. 

The following day I set off with members of the Stavanger congregation on a pilgrimage up the iconic Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), overlooking Lysefjord. There could hardly be a better place to celebrate the Ascension, somewhere that feels as close as earth might get to the heavenly realms. We read from the end of Matthew 28: Jesus commissions his followers to make disciples of all nations, promising that he will be with them to the end of the age. 

The next day, we gathered at St. Edmund’s Church Oslo for a service of confirmation. I was delighted to confirm three adult candidates, two from Oslo and one who had joined us from the Anglican congregation in Bergen. 

In the afternoon, we travelled north to Trondheim. Nidaros Cathedral (above) is the most northerly Gothic cathedral. The cathedral was built over the tomb of St. Olaf, who became Norway’s national saint. In the Middle Ages it was northern Europe’s greatest place of pilgrimage. It has gradually become a popular place of pilgrimage once more. Nidaros Cathedral is a national church, a place of royal benedictions and also a living parish church for residents of central Trondheim. It is a truly wonderful sacred building, warm and welcoming as well as awe-inspiring and magnificent! 

Our Anglican congregation meets in the chapter house of the cathedral on several Sundays a month, and in the nave of the cathedral once a month. I was privileged to preside at Holy Communion in the nave of this wonderful building. The picture shows chaplain Joanna Udal assisting me at the nave altar in front of the shrine to St. Olaf. 

Bishop Olav Tveit (on my left) is the Praeses (presiding bishop) of the (Lutheran) Church of Norway, and he has his episcopal seat at Nidaros cathedral. I knew Bishop Olav when he was Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, and it was very good to meet him in his now leading church role in Norway.   

We are in full communion with the Church of Norway through the Porvoo agreement. That means many Lutheran clergy can, and do, assist with leading worship in our Anglican congregations. On my final day (Monday) in Norway, I was able to share in the warm ecumenical relations amongst Norwegian church leaders by attending a meeting of the Norwegian Council of Churches. I brought greetings from the Archbishop of Canterbury and contributed some brief thoughts on Christian life and mission from the perspective of Brussels. 

It seemed rather appropriate to spend the weekend of Ascension in Norway, a country which feels like the top of the world, stretching up to ‘North Cape’, Europe’s most northerly point. 

We talk about Jesus reigning ‘on high’. The Letter to the Ephesians chapter 4 makes clear that the risen, ascended Christ is the one who is active in giving gifts to his church and equipping it. The gifts are that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the building up of the body of Christ until all of us come to the unity of the faith. I take from this important passage the sense that the unity of the Church is its goal, that Christ is active in equipping the Church to progress towards this goal, and that it is the risen and ascended Lord who guarantees that the church will have all the resources and gifts it needs to reach this goal. 

‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me’, says Jesus just prior to this ascension. With those words, he commissions his disciples for the work of making disciples in all the world. The annual remembrance of Christ’s ascension reminds us of Christ’s kingly authority, of our mandate to pursue mission and unity, and of Christ’s assurance that he is with us to the end of the age!