West Nordic Union Conference (1931–1992)

The West Nordic Union Conference was a former church organizational unit in the Northern European Division¹ covering the territory of Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Norway,² and comprising the East Denmark, East Norway, North Norway, West Denmark, and West Norway conferences. Address: Holmenkollveien 31, Oslo, Norway. The union started in 1931 with 108 churches and 5,379 members in a population of 6,434,357.³ At the end of the period, the statistics showed 125 churches and 8,587 members in a population of 9,474,188.⁴

Organization and Mission

The West Nordic Union Conference (WNU) came into existence when the Scandinavian Union Conference divided into the East Nordic and West Nordic union conferences. As explained by the Scandinavian Union president, G. E. Nord, in an article in the church paper in 1931, the constant increase in membership and the establishment of new churches as well as the expanding educational, publishing, and health programs, called for a change in organizational structure, to enable the work of the church in the Nordic countries to receive the necessary attention and leadership in the years to come.

At the Union committee meeting in Skodsborg March 17-20 this year, the Scandinavian Union was divided into two unions, the West Nordic and the East Nordic. For the West Nordic Union, which consists of the conferences in Norway and Denmark, it is proposed that the Iceland Conference shall be part of this Union, and that Denmark is be divided into two conferences. This Union shall then have about 5,700 members, which is more than the number in all the Union [Scandinavian Union] in 1920, ten years ago … We have been gathered as a union executive committee for the last time. These Unions, the West and the East Nordic Unions, as they are now called, will commence operations as of July 1 this year. Bro. L. Muderspach has been elected the president of the West Nordic Union and yours truly will continue in the East Nordic Union until the unions have had their annual meetings.⁵

The headquarters for the WNU was located in Norway at Wm. Thranesgate 10, Oslo.⁶ Elected personnel would serve for four-year terms.

The Great Depression during the 1930s caused difficulties for many Christian denominations and mission societies in the western world. They had to cut budgets and close mission stations. L. Muderspach, in an article to the church, “Avancér over hele Linien!” encouraged the staff and members in the union not to take account of the difficulties, but to join the rest of the world church in moving forward to finish the work. He wrote about the foreign missions and the need to sacrifice in order to support their work. The five conferences in the union set optimistic goals for Harvest Ingathering, the Week of Sacrifice, Big Week⁷ and the Youth Society offering of which 50 percent would go to foreign missions.⁸

As the churches grew, the need for permanent places of worship became increasingly important. In 1937 thirty-two congregations in the union had their own church building or place of worship. Most of the 138 organized churches had to meet in rented halls, clinics, or homes. But Scandinavian members began planning new building projects or purchases and collecting funds for them. The union leadership saw a need to urge caution and remind the congregations that any church building should be free of debt before dedicated and used, and that 75 percent of the total costs should be in hand, before any construction started.⁹

World War II

With the restrictions resulting from German occupation during World War II, it was not possible for the WNU administration to keep regular communication between Norway and Denmark. At the beginning of 1941 administration decided to transfer the union president, P.G. Nelson, and treasurer, A.C. Christensen, to Denmark. The office was located at Badesanatoriet, Skodsborg, Denmark. The remaining the union staff remained in Norway, and leadership asked T. Tobiassen, of the North Norway Conference, to serve as the union vice president for the church in Norway. The members of the union committee were also divided. Those living in Norway were responsible for the work there, and those in Denmark had charge of that country. As circumstances would permit, the two parts of the union committee tried to maintain as close a cooperation as possible. For practical reasons the WNU committee in Norway operated under the name “De Norske Syvende Dags Adventisters Faellesraad” (The Joint Council of the Norwegian Seventh-day Adventists).¹⁰

Because of the increasingly difficult circumstances, in 1942 the Norwegian committee decided to divide the country into four conferences: East, West, Central, and North Norway.¹¹ In 1943 the union committee in Denmark expanded to include three more members in order to give wider representation.¹²

The war was especially hard on the church in Central and North Norway. “Four church buildings were completely destroyed and two damaged. Many of our members lost all their belongings. In this connection it is in its place to express our heartfelt gratitude to the General Conference for their great help in terms of money and gifts of clothing.”¹³

After World War II

After World War II ended, a joint meeting for the union committees for the East Nordic and West Nordic Union Conferences took place in Sweden during October 1945, with representatives from the General Conference. It shared experiences from the war and made plans for the near future, among them a Nordic Youth Congress to convene in Norway in 1947.¹⁴

In 1946 administration decided to move the WNU offices back to Oslo in Norway. The new address was temporarily Akersgaten 74¹⁵ until the church found a more permanent place at Holmenkollveien 31.¹⁶ The offices would remain there until the union dissolved in 1992 through a reorganization into the Norwegian Union Conference and the Danish Union of Churches Conference. The Iceland Conference, including the mission on the Faroe Islands, had been a part of the WNU since the establishment of the union. However, during the Second World War Iceland had scarcely any connection with Scandinavia. Therefore, “after the war the Faroe Islands were assigned to the East Denmark Conference, and the Iceland Conference was again linked directly to the Northern European Division”¹⁷ effective 1947.¹⁸ The administrative units in Norway shrank to three conferences in 1949: the East, North, and West Norway Conferences.¹⁹

News reached the WNU of successful Bible correspondence schools in other parts of the world, and it then established two such schools, one in each country. In Denmark “Det Tyvende Aarhundredes Bibelbrevskole” started in February 1947,²⁰ and soon after “De Tusende Hjems Brevskole” in Norway. They were successful right from the beginning and became effective instruments for evangelism in the coming years, together with the public meetings and literature evangelism program.

One of the main responsibilities of the WNU was to look after the major institutions in its territory. Denmark had organized Nordisk Filantropisk Selskab (Nordic Philanthropic Society) to operate Skodsborg Badesanatorium near Copenhagen, the affiliated Copenhagen Food Factory, and the Old People’s Home, Aftenhvile, at Naerum.²¹ In addition, the WNU president chaired the boards of the Danish Publishing House and the junior college, Vejlefjord Hoejskole.

Norway had several health institutions under the auspices of the WNU: Oslo Health Home, North Norway Rehabilitation Center, Skogli Medical Center, and Jeloy Sanitarium, as well as the Norwegian Publishing House and the Norwegian Junior College, Tyrifjord Hoeyere Skole. Eiendomsselskabet (The Seventh-day Adventist Real Estate Company) was the legal owner of all the buildings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Norway, but the WNU had charge of the operation of these institutions.²² Some of the institutions could trace their history back to the beginning of the church in Scandinavia, i.e. the Norwegian Publishing House (Norsk Bokforlag) in 1882²³ and Skodsborg Badesanatorium in 1898.²⁴ The church had added more through the years, the latest being Tyrifjord Hoeyere Skole in 1958.²⁵

Skodsborg Badesanatorium came to play a major role in the relationship between the two countries as well as the other Nordic countries. Many young Adventists went there to train as physiotherapists or work in the kitchen, the dining hall, or other departments of the institution, and there found friends for life. For some it resulted in marriage. Skodsborg-trained personnel started more than 60 physiotherapy clinics in Scandinavia and became, in many cases, the nucleus for a new church plant. Before a church building was available, it was often the clinic that served as a place of worship on Sabbath. In 1952, after the sale of Onsrud Misjonsskole²⁶ in Norway, Vejlefjord Hoejskole became the provisional home for Norwegian students until their own new junior college, Tyrifjord Hoeyere Skole, commenced in 1958. It proved to be a rich time for cultural interaction and the forming of friendships.

In the 1950s and 1960s public evangelism, together with the Bible correspondence courses, was still a successful way of reaching people with the Adventist message. But more and more personal evangelism came to the forefront, and the union leaders and departmental directors took the lead in developing or translating helpful tools and materials for church members to use as well as providing training sessions. One of those tools was “Lohne’s Slide Series” as it was popularly called. The union president, Alf Lohne, prepared a series of 15 meetings called “Bibelen giver haab (The Bible gives hope).” Departmental leaders in the two countries prepared photographic slides to go with the presentations that had been recorded on tapes.²⁷ The church produced 2,500 sets, 1,500 for Norway and 1,000 for Denmark.²⁸ During the early1960s tape recorders were still fairly new, but effective tools for presentation of the Adventist message in homes and small groups. Later, after the addition of a few more topics, the narration was duplicated on cassette tapes. With these tools in their hands, many of the pastors and church members were able to reach people for Christ.²⁹ Soon afterward followed the Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking,³⁰ the Bible Gift Plan, and new sets of doctrinal tracts. Union personnel had the materials translated and provided them for pastors and church members in both Denmark and Norway.

In the 1970s lectures on archeology and the Bible lands became popular, and the division provided scripts and slides. The union also coordinated trips to the Middle East so that pastors themselves could visit important Bible sites and take their own pictures to use in presentations and make them more authentic.

The question of dividing the WNU into a Danish and a Norwegian union would surface from time to time. In 1938, the Norwegians had contacted the division and the General Conference about a possible splitting of the union. The 1963 Oslo union session unofficially raised the question again, but substantive negotiations did not result. A union executive committee at Skodsborg in 1966 set up two committees, one for each country, to discuss the issue and report back with their recommendations. When they did at the union’s spring meeting in 1967, they presented three options: (1) A three-country union consisting of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; (2) Two separate unions–Danish and Norwegian; (3) the WNU continue as is. At that time, it was decided to stay with number 3, since it was sensed that the time for a change was not yet ripe. Later the same year the union session asked its delegates to consider the question: Shall the West Nordic Union in the present organizational form, consisting of Denmark with the Faroe Islands and Norway, continue? The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of staying with the present organization. Only a very few opposed it.³¹ That vote put the question to rest for a while.

In 1975 the union president, Jens Madsen, emphasized the need for spiritual renewal in his report at the WNU Session. “While people drill in the depths of the ocean for new sources of energy, we should not forget, that our power source is from above. There is no energy crisis in God’s program, and if we unite our plans with his, the greatest possibilities are ahead of us.”³² Mission was still at the heart of the church although the administration of the union organization and its institutions was occupying much of the officers’ time.

The union employed a new evangelist, Rolf Kvinge, beginning January 1, 1973. He held his first public series in Oslo. Fifty-one people took their stand for Christ, and a new active church organized. The membership figures for the union had plateaued around 1970, but reached a peak of 9,487 in 1974.³³ Leadership introduced an ambitious five-year plan for evangelism to the churches in 1976 with a focus on spiritual renewal and church growth. It placed emphasis on family life so that “our children and youth can grow up in a positive atmosphere, that will inspire them to be faithful Seventh-day Adventists.” The church sought to encourage more young people to choose to become mission workers. It was agreed that the teaching in the church schools and higher educational institutions should “to a greater extent be influenced by our Adventist views of life and educational philosophy”, and it was the intention “to bring all Adventist institutions into harmony with the divine purpose with which they were founded.”³⁴

During the 1980s the union introduced “Vacation Summer School” to give senior members and singles an opportunity to spend 10 days together and enjoy fellowship with friends from both nations. It was a combination of holiday and Bible lectures and alternated between Vejlefjordskolen in Denmark and at Tyrifjord Hoeyere Skole in Norway. The 1980s was also the time of the introduction of the Revelation Seminar. The WNU translated into Danish and Norwegian materials from an American model that had had success elsewhere. Both pastors and members could use the sets of 24 lessons. After conducting training seminars, the WNU set pilot projects in motion. The handbills and advertisements with graphic pictures of scenes from the Book of Revelation drew many people to the seminars. The new tool caught on, and churches held several seminars during the next few years with some good results.

The mid-1980s also saw the establishment of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Denmark and Norway. In the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, Odd Jordal, the aid-coordinator for the Northern Europe -West Africa Division,³⁵ had developed a good relationship with the three Nordic government agencies--Norad, SIDA, and DANIDA--that handled grants to developing countries. He had received sizable grants for the building of schools and hospitals run by the Adventist Church in countries in Africa. ADRA International requested that WNU set up an ADRA office to follow up on those projects. WNU called Helge Andersen, who had served as president of the Nigerian Union Mission and had returned to Denmark, as a field director in 1985. He had the responsibility, among others, to establish the ADRA office. He started in his home in Denmark, and beginning in April 1988 ADRA Denmark and ADRA Norway became two separate recognized organizations with Andersen as the common general secretary until 1993, when Norway appointed their own general secretary. Both ADRA Denmark and ADRA Norway came to be among the more influential organizations within the ADRA network and continued to receive sizable grants from their governments for their projects, primarily in African countries.³⁶

The West Nordic Union and its membership had always had a close affiliation with the rest of the world church and a heart for the mission field. One could see this reflected in the contributions to the various mission offerings and not least the active participation in the Annual Harvest Ingathering campaign. Many missionaries went from both countries, especially to the east and west Africa missions, but also to India, the Middle East, and South America.³⁷ Within its own territory, Denmark supplied missionaries to the Greenland Mission.³⁸ 

In the mid-1980s the question of reorganizing the union surfaced again. Rolf Kvinge, who was now the president of WNU, informed the constituency of the latest developments in an article in the church paper in 1986 under the heading “Our Organization Under the Magnifying Glass.” Both in Denmark and Norway committees had met and taken a closer look at the organization. Some of the primary points of view had crystallized in both countries: (1) That while the present conference organizations did well with their present areas of responsibility, new co-operation tasks should be initiated between the conferences to coordinate additional issues of common interest. (2) That the present conference organizations should be replaced by an organization that covers the entire country. (3) In Norway that the three conference organizations should be reduced to two.³⁹ After consideration by pastors and members, a final report was expected from the two committees.

While the discussions about the organizational structure continued among some of the pastors and members, others were more focused on the mission of the church. In Stockholm, Sweden, the division ministerial director and evangelist, Mark Finley, had been conducting a series of meetings in the spring of 1988 using the concept of sequence evangelism, in which seminars on health, the book of Daniel, the book of Revelation, archeology, and on other subjects would precede a major series of evangelism on the prophetic messages. The approach had been successful in other places in Europe where Mark Finley had worked. Together with his wife, Teenie, he conducted a cooking school and directed some of the seminars while also conducting a field school of evangelism for Swedish pastors. One representative each from Denmark and Norway⁴⁰ followed the first phase of the program for a couple of months in preparation for a citywide campaign in Copenhagen with Mark Finley and scheduled for the following year. The overall success in Stockholm, although it had a large attendance, especially for the health programs, was somewhat limited.

Preparations, however, continued for the series in Copenhagen in the spring of 1989. Following the same pattern as in Stockholm, Finley and his wife conducted a field school of evangelism for about 20 young interns and pastors from Norway and Denmark. The series, held in the heart of Copenhagen, increased the number of seminars (including the cooking school) and added two lectures on Bible lands, one by the union president, Rolf Kvinge, and another by an experienced Danish evangelist, Villi Rasmussen. The seminars and the Bible land lectures went well, producing many new contacts. Finley followed them up with the prophetic evangelistic meetings in two different locations, one in the Svanevej Church in the central part of Copenhagen and the other at the Ishoej Center on the southern outskirts of the city.⁴¹ The attendance came mostly from handbills either distributed by members or sent by mail in the thousands and from friends brought by members. Unfortunately, only a few from the seminars and Bible land programs transitioned to the evangelistic meetings. In the end the results were reasonable though not as good as expected. However, the net gain in members for the East Denmark Conference and Denmark as a whole was positive, unlike the negative trend that had started about 15 years earlier.⁴² Mark Finley found that Scandinavia was probably the hardest place that he had worked in so far.

The talk about reorganization had not stopped. In Denmark the East Denmark Conference had appointed a structure committee in June 1990 that was to look at the practical consequences of a possible future joining of the two Danish conferences into one. At a special session in August the delegates voted to ask the West Denmark Conference to appoint three people to join the structure committee.⁴³ At this point, the delegates focused more on the work and the structure in Denmark than on what would happen with the WNU. That would quickly change when other circumstances turned attention to the whole WNU and its future.

A financial crisis had developed in the institutions connected with Nordisk Filantropisk Selskab (NFS), which at that time consisted of Skodsborg Badesanatorium, the food factory Nutana, and Skodsborg Fysioterapiskole (the Physiotherapy School). The tremendous expansion of the activities of Nutana, especially in Norway, based on large loans proved to be too optimistic and ended in a disaster. Nutana was not able to pay its creditors and the other partners in the NFS had to step in, because they were jointly and severally liable for loans and liabilities. In the end the liabilities were too heavy and the NFS eventually declared bankruptcy.⁴⁴ The West Nordic Union tried to help with financial support to save the institutions in a time when they were also struggling to save some of the Norwegian institutions from financial challenges. A commission composed of the officers from the Trans-European Division and a group of experts from the United States ⁴⁵ visited the West Nordic Union during January 20-23, 1992, to study the situation and give their recommendations.⁴⁶ But in the end the church lost both Nutana⁴⁷ and Skodsborg Badesanatorium,⁴⁸ and the whole matter heavily damaged the image of the union.

A special session of the West Nordic Union convened at Himmerlandsgården, Denmark, on February 16-17, 1992, to explain the financial situation to the delegates and decide on the future of the union. With a commission already working on the possibility of merging the two Danish conferences, and sentiments voiced in Norway for closer ties among their conferences, in addition to the present crisis in the union, the question of dividing WNU into two unions came into prominence.⁴⁹ The delegates voted for new leadership with Helge Andersen as the president to head an interim administration with the mandate to liquidate debts and investigate possibilities for reorganizing the church.⁵⁰ Subsequent meetings held in Denmark and Norway prepared the way for two new unions.

The establishment of the Danish Union of Churches Conference and the Norwegian Union Conference, as well as the dissolution of the West Nordic Union Conference, became effective October 1, 1992, after approval by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.⁵¹ Thus ended 60 years of close and fruitful co-existence and co-operation of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in two countries that through their common history and similar languages have had a shared heritage.

Executive Officers Chronology ⁵²

Presidents: L. Muderspach (1931-1939); P. G. Nelson (1939-1951); Alf Lohne (1951-1967); Jens Madsen (1967-1985); Rolf Kvinge (1985-1992).

Secretary-treasurers: R. F. Jensen (1932-1935); A. C. Christensen (1935-1946); R. Abrahamsen (1946-1963); Trygve Aasheim (1963-1975); Finn H. Opsahl (1975-1985):

Secretary: Erik Arnesen (1931-1932); Per W. Naesheim (1985-1990); John Pedersen (1990-1992).

Treasurers: R. F. Jensen (1931-1932); Agda Hansen (1985-1990); Johann Johannsson (1990-1992).

Sources

Adventnyt 1953-1992. Odense, Denmark: Dansk Bogforlag, 1953-1992.

Missionsefterretninger 1930-1952. Copenhagen, Denmark: Dansk Bogforlag, 1930-1952.

Schantz, Hans Joergen, Skodsborgersamfundet (1991-1992) Ultima Versio. 8721 Daugaard: HASDA, Historisk Arkiv for Syvende Dags Adventistkirken i Danmark, 1993.

Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1966.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Hagerstown, MD 21740: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1932, 1947-1950, 1975, 1980, 1992.

Tillaeg til Adventnyt, May 1992, I-IV. Naerum, Denmark: Dansk Bogforlag, 1992.

Trans-European Division Minutes. Trans-European Division Archives, St. Albans, Herts AL1, United Kingdom.

Notes

1. Later Northern Europe West-Africa Division and Trans-European Division.↩

2. At the beginning Iceland was also part of the union, until 1947, when it was attached directly to the division.↩

3. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1932), 203.↩

4. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1992), 333.↩

5. “Den Skandinaviske Unions 30-aars Jubilaeum og Deling (The 30 Years Jubilee of the Scandinavian Union and Its Division),” Missionsefterretninger, June 1931, 41-43.↩

6. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1932), 203.↩

7. Big Week occurred annually in March, when members, pastors, and leaders were encouraged to sell Signs of the Times or other literature and give the surplus and one day’s wages for mission.↩

8. L. Muderspach, “Avancér over hele Linien (Advance Across the Board),” Missionsefterretninger, March 1935, 1-3.↩

9. Missionsefterretninger, March 1937, 2.↩

10. P. G. Nelson, “Den Vestnordiske Union (The West Nordic Union),” Missionsefterretninger, May 1941, 2-3.↩

11. “Rapport over Den Vestnordiske Unionskonferens’ Generalforsamling paa Onsrud Missionsskole 1.-5. August 1946 (Report from the West Nordic Union Session August 1946),” Missionsefterretninger, Konferens forhandlinger, Ekstranummer, December 1946,1-3.↩

12. P. G. Nelson, “Unionsbestyrelsesmedlemmer i Danmark (Union Committee Members in Denmark),” Missionsefterretninger, June 1943, 6.↩

13. “Rapport over Den Vestnordiske Unionskonferens’ Generalforsamling paa Onsrud Missionsskole 1.-5. August 1946 (Report from the West Nordic Union Session August 1946),” Missionsefterretninger, Konferensforhandlinger, Ekstranummer, December 1946, 2.↩

14. “Unionsbestyrelsesmoeder I Hultafors, Sverige (Union Committee Meetings in Hultafors, Sweden),” Missionsefterretninger, December 1945, 2-3.↩

15. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1947), 137.↩

16. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1948), 138.↩

17. “Iceland,” Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1966), 553.↩

18. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1948), 138, 139.↩

19. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1950), 151-153.↩

20. H. Muderspach, S. Broberg, and F.H. Muderspach, “Saa er vi faerdige til at begynde! (Now we are ready to start!),” Missionsefterretninger, February 1947, 1.↩

21. “Nordic Philanthropic Society,” Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1966), 873.↩

22. Email message from Jóhann E. Jóhannsson, treasurer, Norwegian Union Conference, November 7, 2019.↩

23. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1966), s.v. “Norsk Bokforlag.”↩

24. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1966), s.v. “Skodsborg Badesanatorium.”↩

25. Missionsefterretninger, November 1958, 2.↩

26. Onsrud Misjonsskole served the Adventist Church in Norway 1922-1952 as a mission school. https://snl.no/onsrud.↩

27. Boerge Olsen, “Sidste haand på vaerket (Final Touch on the Work),” Adventnyt, October, 1961,3.↩

28. Alf Lohne, “Unionsformandens rapport over arbejdet i det svundne… (The Union President’s Report from the Work in the Bygone Days),” Adventnyt, July 1963, 3.↩

29. Boerge Olsen, “Nye lysbilledemner (New Slide Themes),” Adventnyt, January 1963, 7.↩

30. Jens Madsen, “Tobaksafvænningskur I Roskilde (Cure for Tobacco in Roskilde),” Adventnyt, December 1964, 3.↩

31. Trygve Aasheim, “Forslag 2 ‘Unionens fremtid’ (Suggestion 2 ‘The future of the Union),’” Adventnyt, August 1967, 5.↩

32. 1975 WNU Session Minutes, The President’s Report, Adventnyt, October 1975, 10.↩

33. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1975), 221.↩

34. “5 year’s plan for evangelism (5 Years’ Plan for Evangelism),” Adventnyt, April 1976, 17, 21.↩

35. “Northern Europe–West Africa Division,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980), 235.↩

36. Letter from Birgit Philipsen, the successor of Helge Andersen in ADRA Denmark, and presently the director of ADRA Norway. Received September 17, 2019.↩

37. From Denmark alone went 52 couples and 17 individuals during the 60-year period, not counting the ones sent by ADRA. This information is gathered by HASDA and received by email on November 21, 2019. Probably a similar number of missionaries went from Norway.↩

38. Ten couples and three individuals went to the Greenland Mission 1953-1990. Information received from HASDA by email on November 21, 2019.↩

39. Rolf Kvinge, “Vestnordisk Union informerer (West Nordic Union Informs),” Adventnyt, March 1986, 3.↩

40. Sven Hagen Jensen would coordinate the Copenhagen meetings, and Reidar Larsen would later run or coordinate similar campaigns in Norway.↩

41. Rolf Kvinge, “Koebenhavn for Kristus (Copenhagen for Christ),” Adventnyt, April 1989, 7.↩

42. Per Naesheim, “Rapport fra Vestnordisk Unions Bestyrelsesmoede 16.-18. April 1989 (Report from WNU’s Executive meeting April 16-18, 1989),” Adventnyt, July 1989, 11.↩

43. “Rapport over den ekstraordinaere generalforsamling afholdt af Syvende Dags Adventistsamfundet Oestdanmark den 19. August 1990 i Naerum (Report of the Extraordinary Session Held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church Denomination East Denmark 19. August 1990 in Naerum),” Adventnyt, October 1990, 20.↩

44. Helge Andersen, “Den sidste svaere tid og hvorfor? (The Last Difficult Time and Why?),” Skodsborgersamfundet (1991-1992) Ultimo Versio, 73-74.↩

45. Trans-European Division Minutes, December 11, 1991, 435, copy received by mail October 24, 2019.↩

46. Rolf Kvinge, “Hektisk aktivitet i VNU (Hectic Activity in the WNU),” Adventnyt, March 1992, 11.↩

47. Sold December 1, 1991, to a marketing manager in Denmark. See Rolf Kvinge, “Nutana er solgt (Nutana has been sold),” Adventnyt, January 1992, 7.↩

48. A consortium of investors took over Skodsborg Badesanatorium September 1, 1992. See “Fremtidsplaner (Plans for the Future),” Skodsborgersamfundet (1991-1992) Ultimo Versio, 76.↩

49. “Rapport over ekstraordinaer generalforsamling i VNU afholdt på Himmerlandsgaarden 16.-17. February 1992 (Report from the Extraordinary Session for the WNU, held at Himmerlandsgaarden 16-17. February 1992),” Tillaeg til Adventnyt, May 1992, I-IV.↩

50. Helge Andersen, “Unionsformanden informerer (The Union Presidents Inform),” Adventnyt, May 1992, 16.↩

51. Trans-European Division Minutes, November 17, 1992, 292, copy received by mail October 24, 2019.↩

52. “West Nordic Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C., and Hagerstown MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1932-1992).↩