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This old fogey has the gravest misgivings about the much-trumpeted phenomenon known as Artificial Intelligence, of whose origin, mechanics, and aims he is woefully ignorant. I find it troubling to receive a message from gmail which provides the wording for a suggested reply. As a retired professor, I wonder whether students are already submitting passing essays by such means. If this be the case, so help us …

This morning I saw reports in the Norwegian language that the bishops of the Church of Norway who officiated at the recent State funeral of HM the late King Harald V omitted the prescribed recitation of Jn 3:16 from the beginning of the visually impressive service held in the relatively small yet very beautiful cathedral located in the heart of downtown Oslo (whose s is pronounced as a soft j, as I discovered on my first and likely only visit to Norway back in April of this year). My all too short visit was a delight, with the rescheduled return trip laying low this ageing gentleman, but I had the privilege of meeting some new brethren in Norway and of spending the Sunday following a conference arranged by Dr David Preus attending a beautifully celebrated Eucharist at a church of the LKNI shepherded by an Icelandic native, Pr Sakarias Ingolfson, who with his teenage son kindly sacrificed his Sunday afternoon to showing me the Oslo downtown. Our visit to the cathedral, followed by a walk past the Storting and up to the Royal Palace, enabled me to appreciate all the more the hours I spent glued to the live presentation of King Harald’s funeral, which proved that the Norwegians perform their Royal ceremonies every bit as well as the British. Moreover, as far as externals are concerned, the clergy of the Church of Norway are many steps above the German Protestant clergy who give such a gloomy impression as they officiate in the black Talar prescribed for Prussian civil servants.

Doctrinally speaking, the funeral of the late King appeared ‘lite’ in the extreme, though it did feature a reading from Jn 14, at least one traditional Norwegian hymn, and the singing (in English!) of Abide with me, whose final words HRH the new Crown Princess rendered with gusto. But today’s news included the report that the presiding bishop of the Church of Norway, who was assisted in the liturgy by the lady bishop of Oslo, deliberately dropped the prescribed reading of Jn 3:16 from the opening of the funeral liturgy, a fact that speaks volumes about the current spiritual state of the Church of Norway and explains why two orthodox Synods are now at work in that historically Lutheran land, a group in the North led by biskop Thor With, a gentleman of my own age whom I had the pleasure to meet at the conference, and a group spread more widely around the country headed by biskop Thorkild Masvie, a human dynamo whose energy belies his age.

Given that my Norwegian is elementary (though, given familiarity with German and my hailing from a part of England where everyday speech remains deeply influenced by Anglo-Saxon, I think I could soon pick up this tongue without too much difficulty), I typed, though not without misgiving, into my computer a question about the kerfuffle around the presiding bishop’s peremptory decision, receiving the following paragraphs in reply, sentences which explain why we should support and pray for the clergy and laypeople gathered under the episcopal ministry of Bishops Torkild and Thor. And oh how I wish I could pay a more leisurely visit to Norway, not a fjord of which Realm did I see back in April.

Presiding Bishop Omits John 3:16 from King Harald’s Funeral

The presiding bishop of the Church of Norway, Olav Fykse Tveit, deliberately omitted John 3:16 from King Harald V’s state funeral, a move rooted in ongoing liturgical reform debates and widely reported in Norway Dagen+1.

What happened

On 9 September 2026, Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit led King Harald V’s funeral service at Oslo Cathedral. Although the Norwegian Church’s funeral liturgy traditionally opens with John 3:16 — often called “the little Bible” — he chose not to read it Dagen. He said he did not want the nation to “misunderstand our message” and that the verse was “misplaced” in the current funeral liturgy Dagen.

Official reasoning

Fykse Tveit, who is preses (archbishop) of the Church of Norway’s bishop’s meeting, stated that he and the bishops believe John 3:16 is not the right place in today’s funeral liturgy Dagen. He confirmed that the decision was made in consultation with other bishops, including Oslo bishop Sunniva Gylver, and that the Church’s rules allow bishops to approve deviations from the liturgy Dagen. He also noted that the verse was omitted even from his own sermon, though he quoted parts of it Dagen.

Liturgical context

John 3:16 has long been a mandatory opening verse in Norwegian funeral services, but many priests have in recent years quietly skipped it, citing concerns that it is unsuitable for the start of a funeral nordictimes.com+1. The bishops’ proposal to make it optional has drawn criticism from some Christian leaders, who see it as a retreat from “classical Christian theology” nordictimes.com.

Reactions

The omission sparked a national debate. Supporters, including some clergy, argued it was a pastoral choice that avoided a message about “loss” at the start of a funeral Dagen+1. Critics, including some theologians and church leaders, said it broke with tradition and could signal a shift in the Church’s theological emphasis nordictimes.com+1. The Church’s leadership stressed that only bishops can approve such deviations; ordinary priests cannot replicate the move without episcopal approval Dagen.

Significance

This was the highest-profile case of the reform under discussion, and Fykse Tveit said it was part of a broader review of the funeral liturgy Dagen. The decision has been interpreted as a signal to the whole Church that the placement of John 3:16 in funerals is under reconsideration Dagen.

In short, the presiding bishop’s omission was a deliberate, authorized departure from the standard liturgy, reflecting both theological judgment and the ongoing reform of Norwegian funeral rites.