Skei Church is a parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 in the municipality of Steinkjer

Steinkjer

is a town and a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Steinkjer, which is also the seat of the county government...

 in Nord-Trøndelag

Nord-Trøndelag

is a county constituting the northern part of Trøndelag in Norway. As of 2010, the county had 131,555 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-least populated county. The largest municipalities are Stjørdal, Steinkjer—the county seat, Levanger, Namsos and Verdal, all with between 21,000 and...

 county, 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...

. It is located in the village of Ogndal

Ogndal

Ogndal is a former municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the central and western part of the present-day municipality of Steinkjer. Starting in 1917, the administrative center of Ogndal was actually located in the town of Steinkjer...

. The church is part of the Ogndal

Ogndal

Ogndal is a former municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the central and western part of the present-day municipality of Steinkjer. Starting in 1917, the administrative center of Ogndal was actually located in the town of Steinkjer...

 parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 in the Nord-Innherad deanery

Deanery

A Deanery is an ecclesiastical entity in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of a Dean.- Catholic usage :...

 in the Diocese of Nidaros

Diocese of Nidaros

Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag counties and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. The diocese is divided into 12 deaneries . Finn Wagle was the bishop from 1991 to 2008...

. The white wooden church was constructed in 1664, making it the oldest wooden church in Steinkjer.

History

Name Skei suggests that the place may have been a meeting place also in pre-Christian times. Skei means "contest or the event center," which probably suggests something about the use, even if the site is not known as a place of worship.

It is impossible to determine when the first church was built at Skei, but in historical records from 1490 "Skeide Sokn" is mentioned, and Olav Engelbrektsson

Olav Engelbrektsson

Olav Engelbrektsson was the last Catholic Archbishop of Norway. As well as being a religious leader, Olav was also a political figure;...

 has in its Domesday Book from 1530's referred to the farm "church Skeiid". Skei church is mentioned in connection with the will of the Crown (the King's property) by the Reformation (1536).

In 1725 the church was sold at auction, and the first private owner, Colonel Claus Janus Gedde who also bought Mære Church

Mære Church

Mære Church is a parish church in the municipality of Steinkjer in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Mære. The church is part of the Mære parish in the Nord-Innherad deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros....

 and Henning Church

Henning Church

Henning Church is a parish church in the municipality of Steinkjer in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Vekre. The church is part of the Henning parish in the Nord-Innherad deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros....

. Over the next 75 years, the church was owned in turn by Casper Heirich von Westerwald (1735-1772), Andrew Bull (owner for only two days), Jorgen Melbourne Westerfwaldt (1772-1776), Theodore Bergmann Holst (1776-1786), and David Andrew Gram (1786-1803).

In 1803, the local congregation bought the church for 3,150 rigsdaler

Norwegian rigsdaler

The rigsdaler was the unit of currency used in Norway until 1816 and in Denmark until 1873. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively.-History:...

s, and then on 1 January 1901, the local municipality took over the ownership of the church.