Restoration of Bethel Church

Sisimiut’s Bethel Church, locally known as the Blue Church, is one of Greenland’s oldest and finest church buildings. It is the first church to have been paid for by the Greenlandic congregation itself – funded by 60 barrels of the precious whale blubber. The log building was shipped from Copenhagen to Sisimiut as a “construction kit” and consecrated in 1775. The building has been modified several times, but an external renovation in 2003 and a restoration of the interior in 2016 have brought the building back to its original architectural expression.

The interior restoration was kindly supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond. Chroma Film has followed the restoration process: view the film. 

Bethel Church opened as a museum on April 28, 2017, and houses an exhibition on the meeting between Greenlandic nature religion and Christianity. The exhibition was made possible by the Augustinus Fonden and Knud Højgaards Fond.