Chapel in the Hills
Encyclopedia
Chapel in the Hills is a stave church
located near Rapid City, South Dakota
.
The Chapel in the Hills was dedicated on July 6, 1969, as the home for the radio ministry of Lutheran Vespers
. The church is a special ministry of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
.
in Norway
. The Borgund stavkirke was built around the year 1150 and is considered the most completely preserved stave church still standing in Norway.
The Norwegian Department of Antiquities provided a set of blueprints of the Borgund church to be used in the construction of the Chapel in the Hills. The woodcarvings resulted from the combined effort by Norwegian woodcarver Erik Fridstrøm and Rapid City resident, Helge Christiansen.
The site includes an authentic log cabin
museum that was built in 1876 by Edward Nielsen, a Norwegian immigrant gold prospector from Hole
, Ringerike
, Norway
. There is also a stabbur, a grass-roofed house, that serves as the visitor center and gift shop.
Stave church
A stave church is a medieval wooden church with a post and beam construction related to timber framing. The wall frames are filled with vertical planks. The load-bearing posts have lent their name to the building technique...
located near Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
.
The Chapel in the Hills was dedicated on July 6, 1969, as the home for the radio ministry of Lutheran Vespers
Vespers in Lutheranism
Vespers in Lutheranism is the evening prayer service in the Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours. The word comes from the Greek εσπερινός and the Latin vesper, meaning "evening."-Order of Vespers:...
. The church is a special ministry of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
.
History
The Chapel in the Hills is an exact replica of the Borgund stave churchBorgund stave church
Borgund Stave Church is a stave church located in Borgund, Lærdal, Norway. It is classified as a triple nave stave church of the so-called Sogn-type. This is also the best preserved of Norway's 28 extant stave churches.-Construction:...
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The Borgund stavkirke was built around the year 1150 and is considered the most completely preserved stave church still standing in Norway.
The Norwegian Department of Antiquities provided a set of blueprints of the Borgund church to be used in the construction of the Chapel in the Hills. The woodcarvings resulted from the combined effort by Norwegian woodcarver Erik Fridstrøm and Rapid City resident, Helge Christiansen.
The site includes an authentic log cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
museum that was built in 1876 by Edward Nielsen, a Norwegian immigrant gold prospector from Hole
Hole, Norway
Hole is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vik. Hole is located around lake Tyrifjorden and extends to the woodland around Oslo...
, Ringerike
Ringerike
oskar er kjempe kulRingerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. There is also a stabbur, a grass-roofed house, that serves as the visitor center and gift shop.
Other sources
- Malmin, Olaf Gabriel Chapel in the Hills : A notable church structure in Rapid City, South Dakota (Rapid City, 1969)