It was just before Christmas that children from a school in Nord-Troms went to a Christmas service with a female priest. After the service, the headmaster sent out a message to all the parents in which she apologized for attending the service with a female priest. The headmaster at the Christian free school Straumfjordnes wrote, among other things: “I lie flat on my face and apologize profusely to all of you. I am tightening up the routines and checking more clearly who will hold the services in the future and finding alternative solutions if there is a need for it”. Nettavisen mentioned the case first. news has been in contact with the school, but neither the acting principal nor the chairman of the board wish to comment on the matter. – Should apologize Stig Lægdene is the acting bishop of Nord-Hålogaland diocese and takes care of the female priest as an employer. – I hope the school will apologise, he says. Acting bishop in Nord-Hålogaland diocese believes the school should apologize. Photo: Jørn Inge Johansen / news The bishop believes it is not possible to ask for a priest of a certain gender, or with a certain opinion. – This is discriminatory. She is a parish priest in Nordreisa, and she has my full support, he says. According to the bishop, there are many who are in despair in Nordreisa, and think it is very sad that they cannot use a great and highly educated parish priest. He has no doubt that she is the right priest for the job. – We opened for female priests 60 years ago, he says. – Know that it is not about me as a person Parish priest Julie Schjøth-Jovik, who held the school service, is neither angry nor hurt. – Because I know it’s not about me as a person. It is also no secret that there are different opinions about female priests, also in congregational circles here in Nord-Troms, she says. Schjøth-Jovik says she does not want to interfere in how the school handles the matter. – But I hope that the school takes this up internally with the parents, and finds out how they should deal with the fact that female priests are part of the Church of Norway, she says. However, the vicar points out that she found the service in question pleasant, and says that the pupils participated actively when they sang Christmas carols. Julie Schjøth-Jovik became the first female priest in Nord-Troms in 2019. Photo: Isabell Haug / Framtid i Nord But there was both opposition and support when Schjøth-Jovik became Nordreisa’s first female priest. – According to God’s word, a woman cannot be a priest in our congregation, said the leader of the Læstadian congregation to news when she was hired. Rystet Hilde Nyvoll (Ap) is mayor of Nordreisa municipality. She says that she was shaken when she heard that the headmaster was sorry that Schjøth-Jovik held a school service. – We have known that there was a big debate about getting a female priest when Julie Schjøth-Jovik was hired in 2019. But I did not expect that debate to flare up today, says the mayor. Mayor of Nordreisa municipality, Hilde Nyvoll (Ap), says she cannot be familiar with the school continuing attitudes from another era and has sent a message of concern to Udir. Photo: Aurora Berg / news Nyvoll says that she finds it frightening that some children in Nordreisa will grow up with such attitudes. – Even if the parents have chosen for the children to go to school, they are still the municipality’s children, she says. Almost 18 per cent of the municipality’s children attend the Christian primary and secondary school. The school describes itself as a Christian alternative. The mayor is now writing a letter to the Directorate of Education asking them to check the school. – I want them to check whether they have a value basis that is in accordance with Norwegian law, says Nyvoll. – Does the past belong to Education Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) believes that the values that the rector advocates belong to the past. – Fortunately, the Church of Norway has come a long way, and today more than one in three priests in Norway are women. It is important that the girls at Straumfjordnes school in particular see this, she tells NTB. She emphasizes that Norwegian schools must promote tolerance and equality between the sexes, and that this must form the basis of all education provided at schools – including the private ones. – No individual school can choose to ignore this, she says. Brenna reminds that Udir supervises the private schools. In the most serious cases, there is grounds for withdrawing the school’s approval. Photo: Anders Fehn / news “Students should see their bodies as a gift from God” The Directorate of Education tells news that they cannot comment on this matter specifically, but points out that all private schools must follow curricula approved by the Directorate. – When we assess the curricula of private schools, we look to see if they safeguard equality and gender equality in a similar way, says Marianne Granlund, head of the department for supervision at Udir. Marianne Granlund in Udir says they assume that the board of private schools follows and conducts training in line with the approved curricula. Photo: UDIR – In order for curricula for private schools to be approved, they must be in line with public school curricula. In the new curricula, among other things, critical thinking is strengthened, and private schools must also take care of this in their curricula. On the website of Straumfjordnes school, they state that they use the Kunnskapsløftet 2020 curricula in all subjects, with the exception of their own curricula in KRLE, physical education, music and science. Like other tenth graders in Norway, the students at the school in Nordreisa will also learn to discuss issues related to different sexual orientations, contraception and abortion. But at Straumfjordnes they must do all this in the light of Christian ethics and morality. – What does Udir think about the school operating with its own additions to the curriculum goals? – We cannot comment on this case specifically, but in general we can say that in curricula approved by Udir, critical thinking and scientific thinking must be clearly expressed, says Granlund.
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Bishop in Troms asks school to apologize to female priest – news Troms and Finnmark
