Sawt Falasteen - Dreadlocks and downward dogs: Oslo's new bishop takes unorthodox approach

The 58-year-old straight-talker, who sports dreadlocks and a nose piercing, knows her unorthodox style comes as a surprise -- but is keen to show a new side to Norway's Protestant Church.

"If all of us should be dressing very correctly or in a grey suit, that's also communicating things about God. I think we need to visualise and show more of the diversity that actually exists in Christian communities," Gylver told AFP.

As she led the service, around 20 members of the congregation stretched out in yoga poses before reciting the Lord's Prayer.

"I realised that for a lot of people yoga is their main way of stressing down, being present, being silent, stopping up and actually taking in something greater than yourself," said Gylver, who is also a gym instructor.

At the National Church Council -- the executive body of the Church -- Gylver was elected bishop in December, with 13 votes in her favour and just four against. She was ordained as bishop on Sunday.

During her three decades as a pastor, she has also organised "drop-in" marriages where couples can arrive without a prior appointment, and Harry Potter services.

"I have never seen really contradiction between modern expressions and old traditions, between the classic spirituality and new forms coming up," Gylver said.

- Test of faith -

Before she became bishop, Gylver would rarely be seen without her black t-shirt, emblazoned with the word "Prest", meaning "Pastor" in Norwegian.

The outfit was a way for her to seem approachable to people in a society she believes to be "very secularised" where "religion and God is really quite invisible".

Gylver also usually wears two crosses around her neck, so she can give one to someone who needs it.

But her own faith has been tested many times.

At the age of 16, she lost her youngest sister Gunvor to anorexia. In 2017, Gylver herself almost died when she was knocked down by a car while riding her bicycle.

Then her husband of more than 30 years, Lars Kristian, died of cancer.

"God is here in the midst of suffering and pain and anxiety, and has felt it on his own body. So when these things are happening to me, it's more like, well, now it's my turn to know these feelings," Gylver said.

Gylver, who supports same-sex marriage and is against rolling back the right to abortion, has made interfaith dialogue her personal motto.

In 2006, she became the first female pastor to give a speech in a Norwegian mosque.

"I'm used to this diversity of faith and life stances and I like it and I think it enriches us," said Gylver, whose husband was an atheist, as well as two of her three adult children.

"And when people asked me 'isn't it hard to be married to a person that is not Christian?' I had to tell them there are a lot of Christians I could never marry.

"Because that's not a guarantee that you will agree in values, thoughts, the way to be a parent, a friend, a lover," Gylver said.

- 'Mosquito' -

Gylver said she was upset by the way religion has been exploited for identity politics, creating gulfs where bridges should be built.

"When Putin and Trump, in their different ways, are using Christianity, my religion, in a very politicised, destructive way, it's really important for me that we, as a church, lift up our voices for justice, for solidarity, for welcoming the stranger among us, for less differences between poor and rich," she said.

In this world "full of stars and excrement", she said in a podcast, quoting the writer Jens Bjørneboe, the church should be "like the mosquito that is so small and kind of irritating but all the time reminding".

Protecting the planet is also a cause close to Gylver's heart. She does not own a car, has not taken a flight for around 10 years and insists on living frugally with her Jack Russell terrier, Milla, as her companion.

"Sunniva is a role model, both as a pastor and as a human being. I think she'll be a very good bishop," said Lena Rismes, also a pastor, as she left Gylver's yoga mass.

Upon becoming bishop, Gylver refused the large home that serves as the Bishop of Oslo's official residence, preferring to remain in her small studio apartment of just over 30 square metres (323 square feet).

"I'm not going to tell you, as a bishop, you have to do exactly this or this," Gylver said. "But I really want to try to live a life to inspire and challenge, and on the other hand, also to remind of grace."

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST