Icelandic church and some thoughts on religion

On Friday we had the opportunity to meet and talk with the Pastor here at Solheimar, Birgir Thomsen.  He is a really cheerful man, resembles Santa Claus, and is one of those people that you just want to hug and talk to about life.  As well as being the Pastor here at Solheimar, he is also the town technician and is the person to go to with computer or internet problems.  The church here, Solheimakirkja, is seven years old.  Sesselja, the woman who started Solheimar, was very religious and always dreamed of having a church on the property, but never built one.  The board of Solheimar decided to build one despite the fact that most people did not think it was necessary.  People who wanted to go to church would go in a nearby town and did not see the point of building one here.  However, since building the church they have made great use of the space both for church and for the yearly summer art festival.

The church is small, and consists of a front room to hang coats, and a single room where the service takes place.  In the back of the church they have an altar piece that was made here in Solheimar.  It is made out of wool and is very symbolic. It is in the shape of a house and has a sun in the center with rays shining out just as the symbol for Solheimar does.  In the picture there is also five children and one adult female, just as there was when Solheimar just started.  The trees in the piece are ones drawn by Hanny, one of the home people here, with the trunk and branches of the trees showing through the foliage.  It is made out of wool and was completely put together by one of the artists here in Solheimar.  Church in Iceland is also different than what people are used to back home.  In Solheimar they have a church service every other Sunday which is unusual for Iceland.  In most of the country churches have a service only one a month or a few times a year.  Many Pastors will run multiple churches and rotate through them weekly. 

I have attended two church services here so far, and I would like to share my current feelings on religion and how the church here has impacted me.  Before coming to Solheimar I was very close to admitting to myself that God does not exist, but that nature is the true power.  However, since coming here I am not so sure what I feel.  There is a very powerful energy here.  The vastness of the landscape combined with the gentleness and the kindness of the people has comforted me.  It has filled me with a warmth that I don’t find when I am at home or school.  I feel like I really belong here, and despite that I have only been here for two weeks, I feel more welcomed and settled here than I often feel while at school.  When at Hope I feel that I am not good enough, or worthy enough to go to church, like I don’t fit the right crowd, but after going to church here I feel differently.  I see the people in the church here and feel that these people would bring more joy to God than most back home.  Here it is not about giving the most money to a church, or a competition to see who can be more in love with Jesus, or who goes to church the most or is the better Christian, but is about joy and love.  These people give what they can and bring so much love into a room that anyone could feel welcome.  They sing loud and bring invisible dogs and baby dolls to the services, and I absolutely LOVE that.  At home I feel pushed away from church and here I feel so welcomed.  And although the whole service is in another language, I feel closer to “God” at this church than I have at any other church I have been to.  I feel a connectedness and feeling of family that is very humbling to me.  If there is a God out there, this is how he would want his people to be, completely loving, not judgmental like many are back home.  Here I can walk into church in my long underwear and hiking boots, and don’t have to worry about not fitting the crowd of sundresses and bobby-pinned hair.  I don’t have to fit that Hope mold that is so evident when you walk into the chapel or gathering services.  I wish everyone could experience a service at the Solheimar church, because for me it has really changed my perspective on religion.   Regardless of whether I decide that God is for me, or just continue my current trend of loving Mother Nature,  I hope to return home and find a church similar to the one here- where there is more than enough love to go around.  I hope that in this I don’t offend anyone, because that is not my goal.  This is just something that has been bothering me for some time, and I thought now was the proper time to share it.  Bless.