The church elected Markus Snellman as Bishop at the church council on March 14. He takes over from Torkild Masvie, who will step down as Bishop in October upon reaching the age limit.
The church wants to continue the classic biblical-Lutheran Reformation legacy that the Nordic state churches have left behind and currently has congregations in eleven different places in Norway and one in Reykjavik. The small church has had significant growth in recent years and expects continued strong growth as new pastors are constantly being trained and are ready to start congregations.
Snellmann, who turns 34 this year, is from the Swedish-speaking part of Finland and has a Laestadian background. With his wife and three children, he currently lives in Narvik where he is a parish pastor in addition to serving Svolvær. He has two master’s degrees in theology, one from Fjellhaug Schools in Oslo and one from Concordia Seminary Ft. Wayne, USA. If the church’s growth continues at the same pace as now and makes it necessary to consecrate more bishops in the western Nordic areas it will cover, then the election has clarified that Snellman is the archbishop.
Snellmann has the prerequisites to succeed in the service he has been elected to until he reaches retirement age. He has shown high theological competence, together with the ability to converse with opponents, and has also demonstrated that he can lead large and complex projects, such as church building restoration in Narvik. With his young age, he follows in the footsteps of the recently retired Archbishop Janis Vanags in Latvia, who was elected archbishop when he was 35 years old. During the months leading up to the episcopal consecration on 24 October in Oslo, Snellman will take over many of the bishop’s formal responsibilities in the preparation and training phase.
In connection with the episcopal consecration, Snellman and his family are moving to the Oslo region to be close to the Messiaskirken-congregation, which serves as the church’s cathedral and provides easier travel to the congregations he oversees. The church expects to double the number of pastors from the current ten within a few years. Proximity to the five-year supplementary pastor training program AdFontes in Oslo and Bergen will be important in order to follow up on the many students who want to become pastors in the church.
A new pastor, Lestyn Jones, will arrive in Narvik in the summer and will work with Snellman till the Snellman-family moves south.
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