Increase in Priests Approved for Westfjords as Demand Grows
The Kirkjuþing (Church Assembly) has approved the addition of one more priest to the Westfjords, bringing a small but meaningful change to a region that has watched its clergy numbers fall sharply. At the turn of the century, fourteen priests served here. Today there are five.
Dean Magnús Erlingsson has not been quiet about what that means in practice. “The decrease of nine priests has been far too much, as we are struggling to meet the spiritual needs of the entire region,” he said. For many communities in the Westfjords, the church remains a central pillar of daily life, making the shortage felt well beyond Sunday services.
A position for a new priest will be advertised next summer. Even so, Magnús thinks that falls short of what a 2022 assessment of service requirements in the area actually recommended — two priests and one deacon. The Westfjords currently has no deacon at all, and Magnús is clear about why that matters.
“We have been working to broaden the church’s services by incorporating both priests and deacons,” he said. “Deacons traditionally focus on institutional and charitable endeavors, as well as various care services, which are vital in our communities.”
Magnús also pushed back on how clergy pay is calculated. Basing salaries on population alone does not account for the reality of rural ministry. “If you’re working full-time, you should receive full compensation, regardless of your location,” he said.
The comparison he draws is telling. Near Laugardalur in Reykjavík, five priests serve a population of just under nine thousand people — a compact, urban patch. The Westfjords has roughly half that population, but the land is another matter entirely. Priests are spread across a vast area, serving parishes that barely see each other.
There are over thirty parishes in the region. Twelve sit in urban centres like Ísafjörður and Bolungarvík, while the rest are scattered across remote countryside. “With only five of us to cover all these parishes, it’s simply a lot to manage,” Magnús said.
The distances involved are not abstract. A single christening can eat up an entire day of travel. Some roads are rough enough that priests arrive on foot, cassock and all. “I can still reach one of my churches faster by boat than by car,” Magnús noted — a line that says more about the Westfjords than any statistic could.
The recruitment of a sixth priest next summer will offer some relief. Whether it will be enough is a different question, and one Magnús clearly intends to keep asking.
