Norwegian State Church

Church of Norway
Coat of arms of the Church of Norway, a cross laid over two St. Olaf's axes. Based on the coat of arms of 16th-century archbishops of Nidaros.
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Lutheranism
Polity	Episcopal
Associations	Lutheran World Federation, World Council of Churches, Conference of European Churches, Porvoo Communion
Region	Norway
Origin	934 (Catholic) 1537 (Lutheran)
Separated from	Roman Catholic Church
Members	3,758,070 baptized members

The Church of Norway (Den norske kirke in Bokmål and Den norske kyrkja in Nynorsk) is a Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity that serves as the people's church of Norway, as set forth in the Constitution of Norway. It is by far the largest church in Norway, and until the 19th century membership was mandatory for everyone.

Norway was gradually christianized from the Late Early Middle Ages and was a Catholic country until the 16th century. The former Catholic Church of Norway exercised a significant degree of sovereignty in Norway and essentially shared power with the King as the secular ruler. The Lutheran reformation in Denmark–Norway in 1536–1537 broke ties with the Holy See and resulted in a state church intimately integrated with the state and completely subject to royal authority, with the King as its head. Until the modern era, the Church of Norway was not only a religious organisation but also one of the most important instruments of royal power and official authority, and an important part of the state administration, especially at the local and regional levels. The Lutheran Church of Norway was considered by itself and by the state as the sole and direct successor of the earlier Catholic Church in Norway.

The church professes the Lutheran Christian faith, with its foundation on the Bible, the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, Luther's Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession. The church is a member of the Porvoo Communion with 12 other churches, among them the Anglican churches of Europe. It has also signed some other ecumenical texts, including the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church.