A pastor will quit if no real wine served

real wine communionBread and wine are essential at holy communion, according to the Christians. Most Protestant parishes in Norway serves alcohol-free wine as the symbolic blood of Christ. Photo: Pixabay.com

A pastor in the Norwegian Church will quit if no real wine

Parish Minister in Narvik, Lars Riberth, has asked to serve alcoholic altar wine at communion. If he does not get it his way, he will consider quitting his job.

Like most other church councils in Norway, the parish council in Narvik has decided that the altar wine should be alcohol-free. Pastor Lars Riberth wish for an end to this and has asked to serve proper wine at communion, writes the local newspaper Framover.

“I have asked for alcohol-containing wine. It is for it to be able to express the blood of Christ. Then there may not be manipulated wine served,” the parish Minister opinionates, adding that he does not know exactly how the process of making the alcohol-free altar wine is conducted.

“But if the alcohol is removed and there is added preservative in large quantities, then it is manipulated,” he tells the newspaper.

Page up and page down are written

The pastor indicates that literally volumes are written about the wine used at communion.

“It was alcohol in the wine that Jesus Christ used 2,000 years ago, and so it has been throughout history,” he points out.

The discussions about the altar wine have now been going on for one year without the congregation council in Narvik reaching a conclusion.

On Thursday, a meeting has been called in Narvik congregation, where only an advisory decision can be made. The parish council has the final word in the matter. But if they say no, Riberth thinks that he must resign and find another workplace.

As they are prone to state in the Norwegian bible belt: “We have heard that [wine was made by Christ], but we don’t like it.”


© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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1 Comment on "A pastor will quit if no real wine served"

  1. Fra Flateby:

    Why stop with wine? Why not real human blood?

    I had friends back in Alaska who thought their children should be introduced to alcohol at an early age. The girl became alcoholic at a young age.

    I had a friend there in the State Office of Alchohol and Drug Abuse (SOADA) who was unlike me very liberal, but when it came to alcohol he absolutely *hated* it … as the gateway drug it is. He had seen so much tragedy from it.

    This priest is a threat to the common good and should be defrocked.

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