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Public Confidence Towards National Church Shoots Up, Membership Never Lower
Public trust towards the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Iceland’s national church, has not been higher since 2008, according to a recent Gallup poll. According to the survey, 47 percent of respondents claim to have high, very high, or complete confidence in the institution. …
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Decline In The Number Of Believers
The number of Icelanders who identify as religious has fallen in recent decades, with the exception of the youngest age group, where levels have remained largely unchanged, RÚV reports, citing a new Gallup national poll. Notably, there is a significant difference between…
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Tear Down and Destruction Of Rainbow Flag At Hjallakirkja
A rainbow flag that was flying outside of Hjallakirkja Church was torn down and destroyed Saturday night, reports RÚV. [su_pullquote]The Volcano is on (again) at Fagradalsfjall! Check out our volcano merch in the Grapevine shop: books, T-shirts, posters even socks and more.…
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National Church Membership Continues To Decline, Pagans Still Largest Non-Christian Faith
According to the latest data from the National Registry, membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland–better known as simply the National Church–has continued to decline. Meanwhile, those of “undefined faith” have increased slightly. [su_pullquote]Easter is drawing closer and now we have…
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“Drop-In” Weddings In Grafarvogskirkja Starting In June
Lovebirds, get ready! The church in Grafarvogur has announced drop-in weddings at the end of June. According to RÚV, the ceremony will be about half an hour long and free of charge for the love bugs. Church wants to encourage weddings The…
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Justice Minister: “No Question” The Church Could Survive Without Government Support
Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, in an article published in Morgunblaðið, says that she believes Iceland’s National Lutheran Church would be just fine managing itself and taking care of its own funding, and that an independent church would be more in…
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Father Of Bride Catches Fire At Wedding
A quick thinking priest, Karen Lind Ólafsdóttir, saved the father of a bride from burning alive yesterday at the church in Þingvellir. She was officiating a wedding of a French woman and a German man at a church decorated with dried flowers…
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FINALLY: Bingo During Christian Holidays No Longer Illegal In Iceland
If you decide to spend Easter playing bingo in Iceland, you will no longer be breaking the law, thanks to legislative changes made earlier this week. As RÚV reports, these changes were introduced to Parliament last February in the form of a…
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Iceland’s National Church Declining; Catholic Church, Ásatrú And Unaffiliated Rising
The latest data from the National Registry shows some interesting trends over the past two months regarding how Icelanders are registered in which religious organisations—or not. According to the data, which was gathered from December 1 of last year to February 1,…
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Iceland’s 2019 Budget: More To The Church, Less For The Environment
The government budget for 2019 has been made public, and it includes a few surprises. As Fréttablaðið reports, the budget was approved on December 14, and most categories overseen by the government saw an increase in funding. The Directorate of Immigration will…
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Trust In Icelandic National Church Decreases, Most Want Separation Of Church & State
Public trust in the national church decreased by 10% between last year and this year, RÚV reports, according to the findings of a new Gallup poll. Only about one third of respondents trust the church a great deal or completely, while 40%…
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Lutheran Minister Believes Separation Of Church & State In Iceland Should Be Examined
A Lutheran minister for the church in Akureyri (seen above) believes that, in light of recent news that national church membership has hit an all-time low, the separation of church and state should be seriously examined. Currently, only about 65% of Icelanders…
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The Exodus From The Church
Iceland is one of seven countries in the world that still has a national Lutheran church. If you’ve only driven around the country without talking much to Icelanders themselves, you might think Iceland was a deeply religious country. From Reykjavík to the…
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One Third Of Icelanders Not In National Church
Registration in Iceland’s national church continues to shrink, having dropped from 90% in 1998 to about 66% today, Kjarninn reports. Today, about 120,000 Icelanders are not registered in the national church. In fact, more people have been leaving the church than joining…
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Icelandic Male Clergy Speak Up Against Sexual Harassment
49 Icelandic male priests and deacons have signed a declaration in which they vow to protect the safety of women in the state church and other places where they have power and influence, RÚV reports. The group wrote in the statement: “Silence…
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Reykjavík Of Yore: From Mundane To Watergate
Well, to be honest, the story of Háteigskirkja is painfully uninteresting. This is probably not the best way to start an article, but bear with me, because this article will unexpectedly end with Watergate (sorry to ruin the suspense). The church was…
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National Church Continues To Shrink In Membership
New figures from the National Registry show that Iceland’s national church is still losing more members than it is gaining, and this trend has been ongoing for years now. Vísir reports that, according to the latest figures, about 2,500 people deregistered from…
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“HEGELIAN DIALECTIC” Amongst Tags Spray Painted On Akureyri Churches
Several churches in Akureyri were struck by what appears to be one vandal late last night, and some of the tags spray painted on the buildings were more obscure than others. Svavar Alfreð Jónsson posted photographic evidence of vandalism done to Akureyri’s…
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Leaving The Church For Helping Asylum Seekers
A local police chief is so upset that Laugarneskirkja church provided sanctuary to asylum seekers that he is de-registering himself from the church. Vísir reports that Ólafur Helgi Kjartansson, the chief of police in Suðurnes, has left the church over last week’s…
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Bishop Responds To Criticism
Bishop of Iceland Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir says the church will continue to show compassion for those in need, and are not breaking the law by doing so. “It was not our intent, nor will it ever be our intent, that the church…
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MP Criticises Church For Providing Asylum Seekers Sanctuary
A conservative MP has called for the church’s funding to be cut for providing Iraqi asylum seekers with sanctuary, accusing the church of obstructing justice – an accusation contradicted by video evidence. Stundin reports that Independence Party MP Brynjar Níelsson accused the…
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Why The Hell Are We Sending People Back To Iraq?
Our asylum seeker treatment has now reached epically dangerous and hypocritical proportions. As many of our readers are aware, the Directorate of Immigration (UTL) has for a long time now demonstrated astonishing levels of incompetence and cruelty, on many occasions in violation…
