Norwegian church needs license for lightning cross on tower

The cross at the newly build church in Skien has been a centre of controversy since the Norwegian daily Telemarksavisa published a story about it in early November. In the article, a neighbour complained about the cross. "The luminous cross is annoying because we live in a residential area with a diversity of views. And it seems provocative because it is dominant and lights up 24 hours a day."

At the same time, the complainant emphasizes that it is not the light that is bothersome, but the symbolism.

After some discussion between the parish, the municipality and neighbours, the building case unit in Skien municipality informed the parish's architect on Wednesday that from a legal point of view, "the cross must be perceived as a form of light advertising". This writes Norwegian daily Vårt Land.

The building case unit considers the location of the cross at Skauen church as clarified in the previously approved building case, but concludes that the lighting of the cross "must be applied for as an application for dispensation from the Municipal sub-plan's area part." The light was not part of the original building license that the municipality gave, so the church has to apply for a dispensation of that. Such an application must be submitted before the end of the year.

Fred Arve Fahre, who is a priest in DELK Telemark (The Evangelical Lutheran Church Society), informed the Norwegian Christian Press Office (KPK) that the congregation will take some time to think before they decide whether to send a license application. The church has dimmed the light somewhat already.

KPK reported earlier that the complainant's house is at least 300 metres away. In between, there are several villas. In addition there is a football field with high light masts that floodlight the field when it is dark.

Ideology from the past

A few years ago, there was a similar case in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, writes KPK. In May 2017, the Methodist Church at Bjølsen erected an illumination cross on top of the church tower. Neighbours complained there as well: "I would like to have refrained from such an enormous advertising poster for an ideology that I believe belongs to the past," wrote a complainant according to the newspaper Vårt Land.

At Bjølsen, the matter was resolved by switching off the light in the cross itself. Now it is illuminated from the outside. “We turned off the light inside and mounted a couple of spots instead", explains Pastor Steinar Hjerpseth to KPK. According to him, the controversy mostly calmed down, although some both positive and negative comments came after the decision.