Rein Church

JOHAN:
Mother, why are you crying?

RANDI:
This was the last confirmation here in Rein Church. They are building the new church at Føll, and that’s too far away for me. Føll is so far away that we can’t even hear the church bells. Isn’t that sad, Johan, when Christmas Eve comes, without the sound of church bells? It breaks my heart.

JOHAN:
But the church will still be standing, won’t it?

RANDI:
No. There’s no money for maintenance, so they’ll tear it down.

JOHAN:
They’ll build a new church here at Rein. You’ll see.

RANDI:
No, Johan, no one will ever have the money for a new church.

Johans mother was right. In 1888, the year after Johan’s confirmation, they tore down the church at Rein. A new main church was built at Føll, a more central location for the large congregation. Timber, columns and decorations from the church was sold at auctions and reused in farmhouses and barns in the area. The altarpiece from 1692 and the old church bells were moved to the new church.

But the young Johan would also turn out to be right. A new church was eventually built at Rein, as a faithful copy of the old wooden church. The church was built in 1932, and it was all financed and supervised by Johan Bojer himself. He had become a successful author, with books like The Last of the Vikings and The Emigrants, and he wanted to give something back to the community where he grew up.

The Bojer Church was opened August 24th 1932, and Johan’s mother Randi, who had shed her tears over the loss of the old church, had the honour of letting the church bells call the congregation to high mass.