The Church of Selfoss

The Church of Selfoss was built between 1952 and 1956 to a design by Bjarni Pálsson, headmaster of the technical college in the town, and consecrated on Palm Sunday, 25 March 1956. A porch and a tower were added between 1978 and 1984, and a parish hall after them. Jón and Greta Björnsson painted and decorated the interior, and Greta's pictures follow the church year. The stained glass is by Halla Haraldsdóttir and Dr. H. Oidtmann of Linnich in Germany: six windows went into the chancel in 1987 and ten into the nave in 1993. The church's first parish priest, sr. Sigurður Pálsson, worked for the revival of the plainsong of the Graduale of 1594, and the church says of itself that its worship has followed that spirit ever since.