Grip Stave Church

Grip Stave Church
Grip stavkyrkje
Grip Stave Church Location in Møre og Romsdal Show map of Møre og Romsdal Grip Stave Church Location in Møre og Romsdal Show map of Norway
Coordinates: 63°13′11″N 7°35′38″E / 63.2197°N 7.5939°E / 63.2197; 7.5939
Location	Kristiansund Municipality, Møre og Romsdal
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Founded	1470 (1470)
Architecture
Status	Active during summer
Functional status	Preserved
Architectural type	Church
Style	Møre type stave church
Administration
Parish	Kristiansund
Deanery	Ytre Nordmøre
Diocese	Diocese of Møre

Grip Stave Church (Norwegian: Grip stavkyrkje) is a historic stave church in the fishing village of Grip in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the small island of Grip about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) northwest of the city of Kristiansund in the Norwegian Sea. The church is part of the Kristiansund parish in the Ytre Nordmøre deanery in the Diocese of Møre.

With only one nave that is 12 metres (39 ft) long, 6.5 metres (21 ft) wide, and 6 metres (20 ft) high, it is one of Norway's smallest churches. The priest no longer lived in the parish after the year 1635, but regularly visited the island. Grip has been an annex to Kristiansund parish since 1967.

Located in a now deserted fishing village, the church is only used in the summer season, when both summer residents and tourists attend services every third Sunday, led by a priest from Kristiansund.

The church was built in about 1470 at the island's highest point, about 8 metres (26 ft) above sea level. The church is of the Møre type, being structurally similar to the larger Kvernes and Rødven stave churches. Because of the barren nature of the island, there is no cemetery on the church grounds, and bodies had to be buried elsewhere, in the cemetery of Bremsnes Church, over 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away over open sea.