The main religion in Norway is The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway, to which 89% of the population belongs to and which is the religion of the state. Church and state are not separated in Norway, but complete religious freedom is guaranteed. The remaining 11% of the population belong to Islam, the Roman-Catholic church, various Protestant denominations, other religions or are non-religious.  
 

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway today 

The church receives support from the state, and the main reason for not separating these two is that one wants the Christian values to have a strong position in the society. “Christian values” in this context mean what most people would consider obvious moral and ethic standards - not stealing, not beating up others, respect and honor others etc. 

Religion is not a big issue in Norway. There are various degrees of religious strictness in the church. Some parishes are very strict and want to do as much as possible completely by the Bible, but most people have a relaxed relationship to the religion. The western parts of Norway are traditionally regarded as Puritan. 

Many of the members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church are non-practicing, or they only attend services at special occasions such as weddings and funerals. To differ between practicing and non-practicing Christians, there is an expression in Norway called “being personally Christian”. That expression means that one believes in God, and is a member of the Church for this reason. Those who are members of the Church, but not personally Christians are members because that’s how it’s always been, they were born into it and haven’t really had to take a stand for or against. 

Men and women in the Church have equal rights to become priests, bishops and so on. The King is the head of the Church, and he nominates the clergy. 

The Parishes often run kindergartens and missionaries, and organize various church activities. 

Beliefs 
The beliefs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church are summed up in the creed. 

The Church have only two sacraments which are: 
Baptism (Children are baptized when they are a couple of months old) and The Holy Communion. 

History 
The Evangelical Lutheran Church came to Norway after The Reformation of the Catholic church in 1500. Prior to the Reformation, the Catholic church was the state church. The Catholic Church was introduced to Norway around 1000 AD and took over after the Vikings’ Norse gods. (See: Viking religion). 

The Reformation started in Germany in the 16th century. Martin Luther thought the Catholic church’s and the Pope’s interpretation of the Bible was wrong. Luther pinned 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg in 1517, theses to which the Catholic church strongly objected to. Luther was banned by the Pope in 1521. 
Though not the initial intention, Luther’s theses led to a revolution and the Catholic church of that time splitting in two parts - the new Lutheran Church, which was and still is particularly dominant in Northern Europe, and the Roman-Catholic which dominates religious life in Southern Europe as well as in many other parts of the world. 

The Reformation came to Denmark-Norway in 1536 as the result of a political struggle. 

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Religion in American society 
 

 
Stave Church: Stave Churches are churches from the 13th century made entirely of wood and without nails. The churches have elaborate carvings which are characteristics of these churches. The Stave Church in the photo above is Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen. 
 
 

Fantoft Stave Church: Close-up of the roof which is decorated with detailed carvings.