Stavanger International Church

Info

Stavanger International Church is Christian, non denominational and international church with focus on Christ Jesus. Services are in English.

Historie

The Stavanger International Church can trace its beginnings to the Norwegian Methodist Church in Stavanger, where the first “oil families” arriving in Stavanger begin to worship in the mid-1960s with English translation being provided during the Norwegian service. More families came to Stavanger and in December 1967, 20 American families organized the Stavanger American Sunday School, which met in the basement of the Methodist church. The name was eventually changed to the Stavanger International Sunday School.

In early 1971, Norwegian friends in the community came to the aid of the group, and an invitation was extended to use Revheim Church for English worship. Beginning on Easter Sunday, April 11, 1971, the church started meeting in Revheim Church with the Norwegian pastor, Arthur Harstad, conducting an English service prior to the Norwegian service. Pastor Harstad continued to serve the church in this way until 1977. The church eventually became the Madla Interdenominational Church and continued to meet in Revheim Church until moving to Hetland Church in 1983. The name was then changed to Stavanger Interdenominational Church and later to Stavanger International Church. In January 2007, our church moved to the Aula on the campus of NMS and the School of Mission and Theology.

Beginning in 1977, Stavanger International Church was led by American pastors, many of Norwegian descent, serving primarily an American and Norwegian congregation. In 2005, the church entered into a limited association with the Norwegian Mission Society (NMS), joined the NMS´Network for Congregational Development and hired its first Norwegian pastor since the 1970s. Still an interdenominational and ecumenical church, its invitational focus was broadened to welcome all international, English-speaking Christians within the greater Stavanger community.