Nine years ago, I was asked to write a short overview of the National Church in Iceland and the theological landscape in “a historical light”. The original post can be found at The National Church in Iceland | (ispeculate.net). Since then, a lot has changed. So, I decided to revise the text a bit.
The National Church in Iceland, or The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Iceland, was a State Church until 1997 or perhaps rather 2021. Until 2021, salaries for pastors were paid directly by the government. It was a part of an agreement between the church and state. The agreement involved a complicated land swap deal from 1907. According to a supreme court ruling in Iceland around 2015, pastors were considered government employees with all rights and obligations of such employees.
Continue reading National Church in Iceland (revision)