Adventists celebrate church centenary and 120 years in Iceland

Iceland’s Seventh-day Adventist congregation is marking 120 years in the country and the centenary of its church on Ingólfsstræti, with celebrations taking place on Saturday, Morgunblaðið reports.

The church building, a familiar landmark in the capital, opened in 1926. The anniversary programme will culminate in a concert at the church at 4 p.m.

Construction took only a few months. The congregation raised funds, received help from abroad and contributed volunteer labour. Danish master builder Hans Peter Panduro came to Iceland in the summer of 1925 to oversee the work.

The project also involved Norwegian pastor Olof Johan Olsen, who was interested in building and had built several houses himself. He also helped build Adventist churches in Vestmannaeyjar and Akureyri. The church’s Swedish architect, Valdemar Johanson, had designed a similar Adventist church on Tunnelgatan in Stockholm.

The congregation was established in 1906, but its work in Iceland began earlier. David Östlund arrived in the country in November 1897 and began preaching in Icelandic in early 1898. He later built a house at Ingólfsstræti 22, which served as an Adventist church for a time.

The Ingólfsstræti church has been renovated ahead of the anniversary celebrations.