Deanery of Strandebarm

"Church of Norway in Exile"
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationLutheranism
RegionNorway
Origin1991
Separated fromChurch of Norway (claimed exile)
SeparationsEvangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway (2013)
Congregations12 (in 2001)

The Deanery of Strandebarm (Norwegian: Strandebarm Prosti), also known as the "Church of Norway in Exile" (Norwegian: «Den norske kirke i eksil»), was originally an independent conservative Lutheran deanery in Norway established in 1991 by priests who broke ties with the state church, the Church of Norway; in 1997 they claimed the status of a diocese. It functioned as a network of priests and congregations led by anti-abortion activists Børre Knudsen, Per Kørner and Ludvig Nessa who rejected what they claimed was the liberal direction of the Church of Norway. In 2012/13 the group split into the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway and independent "exile church" elect-congregations.