Rev. Helga Haugland Byfuglien was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Borg in Norway, on September 23, becoming the third woman among the 11 Church of Norway bishops. Byfuglien succeeds Bishop Ole Christian M. Kvarme, now bishop of Oslo. She will be installed during a worship service in the Cathedral of Fredrikstad on December 11.
The bishop-elect describes the church’s main challenge as how to pass on the "message of love, forgiveness and hope in such a way that people find our words and deeds relevant," reports the Church of Norway Information Service.
Byfuglien, born in 1950, has held positions in the dioceses of Nidaros and Borg. She is also chairperson of a national project to reform religious education in the church. Since 2001, she has been Secretary General of the Norwegian Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations (YMCA and YWCA.)
The Church of Norway, a state church, has over 1,200 clergy of whom about 12 percent are women. Its first woman bishop, Rosemarie Köhn, was appointed to the See of Hamar in February 1993. Rev. Laila Riksaasen Dahl has been bishop of the Diocese of Tunsberg since February 2003.
Eighty-six percent of Norwegians belong to the 3.9 million-member Church of Norway, which joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1947. (217 words)
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