Skorpa Church


Skorpa Church is a historic parish church of the Church of Norway in Kvænangen Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the small island of Skorpa. It is one of the churches in the Kvænangen parish which is part of the Nord-Troms prosti in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1850 by an unknown architect. The church seats about 300 people. It was consecrated on 18 September 1850 by the Bishop Daniel Bremer Juell.

History

A chapel was built on the island of Skorpa in 1795. It may not have been the first chapel on Skorpa, but there is little known before that time. That chapel was replaced with the current church building in 1850. When Kvænangen became an independent municipality in 1863, this church became the main church for the municipality. The island, which originally was the administrative centre of the municipality, gradually became less populated and later the administration was moved to Burfjord. In 1956, Sekkemo Church was built on the mainland and that church became the main church for the municipality. Today, Skorpa is an uninhabited island and the church is only rarely used—mostly for special occasions.