It’s time to loosen the centuries-old ties between the Lutheran Church and the Norwegian government, according to a four-year commission into the country’s traditional church-state relationship. The Church/State commission, set up by the Lutheran Church of Norway, released its recommendations earlier this month, saying that “all churches and religious societies in Norway should be treated equally.” The report also calls on members of the Church of Norway to “take responsibility for their church, both financially and in practical leadership.”

“This is indeed good news for all free churches in Norway,” says Tor Tjeransen, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Norway. “Although free churches in Norway are given ample room to function and operate, there is no doubt that it is an anachronism to operate a state church.”

Separation between church and state would require a change in the Norwegian Constitution, which in turn requires the vote of two different parliaments, explains Tjeransen. He says the issue won’t be finalized before 2005, at the earliest.

Under the country’s 1814 Constitution, the king is the head of the Church of Norway, and he exercises this power through the Government Council of State. The parliament deals with church finances and passes legislation relating to church affairs. Since 1660 the king had been responsible for appointing all church leaders, including parish pastors. Although this process was reformed in 1989, higher-ranking church officials continue to receive their appointment from a select state committee.

Recognition of Norway’s growing religious pluralism was a significant factor in prompting this review of the church-state relationship, say leaders of the Church of Norway. Although there has been a steady increase over the past decade in Norway’s Muslim and non-Lutheran Christian groups, an overwhelming majority of Norwegians still belong to the Church of Norway; at last count some 86 percent. In 2000, 82 percent of babies born in Norway were baptized into this church.

Norway remains one of the few countries of the world to maintain a state church. The commission’s report, expected to generate significant public debate in Norway, follows the decision of the Lutheran Church in neighboring Sweden to sever church-state ties two years ago.