| Washington Island Stavkirke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Evangelical Lutheran Church of America |
| Leadership | Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church |
| Status | Church |
| Location | |
| Location | Washington Island, Wisconsin |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Pat Mangan |
| Style | Stave church |
| Completed | 1995 |
| Website | |
| www | |
Washington Island Stavkirke is a stave church located in Washington Island, Wisconsin. It is owned and operated by Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church and is positioned a few hundred yards away from it.
The volunteer-led construction of the church began in 1983 and was modeled after the Borgund Stave Church in Borgund, Lærdal, Norway, which was built in 1150. It was created to reflect the Scandinavian heritage of Washington Island and was originally proposed by James Reiff, who was the acting pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran church from 1978–1985. [1] [2] [3] The building has twelve 18-foot masts all harvested locally from the island. Eleven of the masts are pine and one is white fir. 9,600 four-inch wide shingles make up the six-tiered roof of the Stavkirke. [4] The church was completed and dedicated in the summer of 1995. [5]
Around 8,000–10,000 people visit the Stavkirke annually. [6] During the summer, a weekly Wednesday service is held in the building. Baptisms and wedding ceremonies are also held in the building. [5]
A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts are called stafr in Old Norse. Two related church building types also named for their structural elements, the post church and palisade church, are often called 'stave churches'.
Heddal Stave Church is a stave church located at Heddal in Notodden municipality, Norway.
Borgund Stave Church is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Lærdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The old stave church is located in the village of Borgund. It was the church for the Lærdal parish until 1868 when it was closed and turned into a museum. The brown, wooden church was built in a stave church style around the year 1200. It is classified as a triple-nave stave church of the Sogn-type. No longer regularly used for church functions, it is now a museum run by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments. It was replaced by the "new" Borgund Church in 1868.
Lom Stave Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Fossbergom in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. It is the church for the Lom parish which is part of the Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. The brown, wooden stave church was built around the year 1170 using plans drawn up by an unknown architect. The church seats about 350 people.
Grip Stave Church is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the now-abandoned fishing village of Grip on the small island of Grip about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) northwest of the town of Kristiansund. It is an annex church for the Kristiansund parish which is part of the Ytre Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a rectangular stave church style in 1470 by an unknown architect.
Urnes Stave Church is a 12th-century stave church at Ornes, along the Lustrafjorden in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway.
Hopperstad Stave Church is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in the village of Vikøyri in Vik Municipality in Vestland county. It was historically the church for the Hopperstad parish in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The church is currently owned by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments. The brown, wooden stave church was built during the 12th century. The church seats about 30 people.
Kaupanger Stave Church is the largest stave church in Vestland county, Norway. It is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sogndal Municipality and it is located in the village of Kaupanger, on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden. It is the church for the Kaupanger parish which is part of the Sogn prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The brown, wooden church was built in the mid-12th century and it has been in use ever since that time. The church seats about 125 people.
Høyjord Stave Church is a stave church in the village of Høyjord in Andebu in the municipality of Sandefjord in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is the only stave church left in Vestfold County. It is also Norway's southernmost stave church. It is one of three remaining center post churches (midtmastkirke) in Norway. The stave church is commonly dated to around the year 1300, however, parts of the church were constructed in the 1100s and in 1275.
Nore Stave Church is a stave church located at Nore in Nore og Uvdal kommune in Viken county, Norway.
Reinli Stave Church is a preserved parish church of the Church of Norway in Sør-Aurdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Reinli. It is the former church for the Reinli parish which is part of the Valdres prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. The brown, wooden church was built in a long church design around the year 1300 using plans drawn up by an unknown architect. The church seats about 70 people.
Gol Stave Church is a stave church originally from Gol in the traditional region of Hallingdal in Buskerud county, Norway. The reconstructed church is now a museum and is now located in the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History at Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway.
Kvernes Stave Church is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The old church sits along the Kvernesfjorden in the village of Kvernes, just to the north of the Kvernes Church, the present church for the parish. The white, wooden church was built in a rectangular stave church style sometime during the first half of the 14th century. The church seats about 200 people.
Rødven Stave Church is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The stave church is located in the village of Rødven. It was a church in the Eid og Holm parish which is part of the Indre Romsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre. The brown, wooden church was built in a long church design during the 12th century by an unknown architect. The church seats about 100 people.
Haltdalen Stave Church is a stave church that was originally built in the 1170s in the village of Haltdalen in what is now the municipality of Holtålen in Trøndelag county, Norway. The church is now on display at the Sverresborg Trøndelag Folkemuseum in the city of Trondheim. This is a single-nave stave church of the east Scandinavian-style, and it is the only one that is preserved.
The Lutheran Gustav Adolf Stave Church is a stave church situated in Hahnenklee, a borough of Goslar in the Harz mountains, Germany. Construction of the church began in 1907 and it was consecrated on 28 June 1908.
Chapel in the Hills is a stave church located near Rapid City, South Dakota.
Bethania Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation is located in Ephraim, a village in Door County, Wisconsin. The church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Today, the church is known as Bethany Lutheran Church of Ephraim.
Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave Church and Lom Stave Church there are traces of older post churches. Post churches were later replaced by the more durable stave churches. About 1,300 churches were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in what was Norway's first building boom. A total of about 3,000 churches have been built in Norway, although nearly half of them have perished. From 1620 systematic records and accounts were kept although sources prior to 1620 are fragmented. Evidence about early and medieval churches is partly archaeological. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. There are about 1620 buildings recognized as churches affiliated with the Church of Norway. In addition, there are a number of gospel halls belonging to the lay movement affiliated with the Church of Norway as well as churches belonging to other Christian bodies. Until the 20th century, most churches were built from wood. 220 buildings are protected by law, and an additional 765 are listed as valuable cultural heritage.
Coordinates: 45°22′37.6″N86°55′26.8″W / 45.377111°N 86.924111°W
