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Church airs climate concerns
Local All Saints' Day service to launch five-part series on NRK TV

Members of the Store Norske men's choir perform during a torchlight vigil Sunday at Longyearbyen Cemetery during an All Saints' Day service filmed by NRK to be broadcast Nov. 1 as part of a five-part series focusing on the Norwegian church's role in raising awareness about Arctic climate change. Other episodes will air during the four Sundays of Advent.

The nave glowed dazzlingly and even the bell announcing the beginning of the service rang louder and clearer than normal, at least until a technician lowered the volume on a previously unnoticed speaker.

A bit strange even for a place celebrating miracles, but no more so than the fact the bells were for show – anyone wanting to witness the scene needed to be there when the "real" alert chimed 15 minutes earlier. Or hearing Leif Magne Helgesen's seemingly ordinary first words from the pulpit.

"Welcome to Svalbard Church on All Saints' Day," the priest said, a full three weeks before the actual commemoration of saints on Nov. 1.

The spotlights, makeup and a lot of electronic cables all helped capture a service to be broadcast by NRK on Nov. 1 as the first in a five-part "Open Skies" series focusing on the Norwegian Church and climate change in the Arctic. The other four episodes, filmed from glaciers and other Arctic locations, will be broadcast during the four Sundays of Advent.

Longyearbyen Church will be the first to chime its bells in a ”Rop fra Arktis” ("Cry from the Arctic”) relay progressing south though Norway and Sweden until the United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Copenhagen on Dec. 6. Discussions about the issue will also take place Nov. 20-22 at the church and The University Centre In Svalbard.

"I think it's nice the church has very strong opinions about this and wants to get involved," said Sylvi Inez Liljegren, a journalist and producer for NRK, who watched much of the All Saints' service on a laptop computer displaying a split-screen view from the three cameras in the sanctuary.

"When you look at the scenario for the next 100 years the scientists say it's going to be a temperature change of six to eight degrees (Celsius)," she said. "It's sort of like an alarm clock for the rest of the world."

While the congregation watched special performances by the Longyearbyen choir and other musicians, a separate concert of sorts was taking place among the television crew.

Congregants light candles following communion during the All Saints' Day service Sunday at Svalbard Church as NRK crew members film the liturgy for broadcast during the actual commemoration of saints Nov. 1.

A man working a sound console at the rear pushed buttons and twisted knobs almost as fast as the organist (and, for actual music, sang along with many of the hymns while doing so). Attached to a camera was a thick stack of cards with Simen Henriksen, 16, a Longyearbyen student aiding the crew, throwing one on the floor behind him toward another worker every minute or so, much like the page-turner for a classical pianist.

Henriksen, who's lived in Longyearbyen for eight years, said he plays music and is active in other local arts, but doesn't have any TV crew experience and isn't sure exactly why he was recruited.

"They just texted me and asked me if I wanted to help them," he said.

The service lasted the customary hour with a few other minor differences, such as moving the post-communion candle lighting to the rear of the nave due to the camera and lights up front. Afterward, Helgesen said he's been filmed by television cameras before while working as a priest, but this is the first time a full service has been taped for broadcast.

"It would have been worse if it was (live)," he said. "It's a lot of work. It's a nice experience also."

The service was followed by a torchlight vigil, with many waiting at the church for two hours or returning at the 5 p.m. start so the cameras could record the event at dusk. About 50 people carried torches from the church to Longyearbyen Cemetery, where more songs and a brief sermon by Helgesen were captured.

Helgesen will host the opening of the ”Rop fra Arktis” seminars Nov. 20 at the church, the beginning of the bell relay Nov. 21 at Skjæringa and a climate exhibition at the church Nov. 22. Climate experts and other officials are scheduled to participate in panel discussions and other events at UNIS on Nov. 21.

The event stems from a "Climate And Ethics" conference in Longyearbyen between church, research and industry officials in September of 2008. Bishops have said they hope other European countries will participate in similar events before the climate summit.

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