Thousands Quit Church after New Digital Format

Thousands of parishioners have left the Lutheran Church in Norway after the church started using a new digital membership program.

Church-goers are easily able to indicate if they are members of the Lutheran Church with this new high-tech system. The digital platform allows church officials to see in real time how many people have become members and how many people have left the church.

Since the launch of the program, nearly 16,000 people have terminated their church membership. Meanwhile, some 1,300 new people have signed up for membership.

Christian Today reports church officials expected to see a sharp decline in church membership with the launch of the new program.

"We were prepared for a significant number of resignations and have great respect for the individual's choice," Norwegian bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien said in a statement.

The bishop says the membership decline will not keep them from spreading the gospel in Europe.

"Our task will be to pass on the Christian message and to convey the important role the church can have in people's lives," he added.

One possible reason for the membership withdrawal is that many may have been mistakenly listed as a member and the new format is an easy way for them to change that.

"We will continue to have a broad and open national church. But no-one should be a member of a religious community against their will; and, therefore I am glad that this self solution is in place," one church leader told Christian Today. "Those who (were) mistakenly listed as a member of the Norwegian Church or who do not wish to be members can now easily change their status, and it will give us a more accurate registry."