Thorkild Grosbøll

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Thorkild Grosbøll is a priest in the Church of Denmark. Grosbøll has said that he does not believe in God, but he still wants to serve as a priest. While quoting just these two views out of context is an oversimplification of his position, they have resulted in Grosbøll being at the centre of a controversy among Christians, mostly in Denmark.

Grosbøll was relieved of his duties as parish priest in Taarbæk by the bishop in Elsinore, Lise-Lotte Rebel, as she believed Grosbøll had failed in four accounts:

• neglected the creed of the Church of Denmark.
• subverted the respectability of the service.
• ignored orders.
• created profound confusion about the Church of Denmark.

In the spring of 2003, Thorkild Grosbøll published the book En Sten i Skoen (A Stone in the Shoe), resulting in very limited reactions, though he wrote in it that he does not believe in God. On May 23, 2003, the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen published an interview with Grosbøll, in which he repeated statements from his book, in particular that he does not believe in a creating or upholding God.

After a public outcry, bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel started talks with the priest on June 3, 2003 about his faith. Simultaneously, he was relieved of his duties. On July 23, 2003, Thorkild Grosbøll was allowed to continue his service as a parish priest in Taarbæk, subject to special surveillance.

On June 3, 2004, Grosbøll was instructed resign no later than June 4, or he would be suspended. On June 7, 2004, the chairman of the elected parish council in Taarbæk, Lars Heilesen, informed the parish about the situation in the church in Taarbæk. On June 10, 2004, bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel again relieved Thorkild Grosbøll of his duties.

In July of 2004 the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs transferred the case to an ecclesiastical court. The first stage of this process, a hearing of the involved parties, was concluded February 2005. On May 11, 2005, the ministry relieved bishop Lise Lotte Rebel from her surveillance of Thorkild Grosbøll, and transferred the surveillance to bishop Jan Lindhardt. Thereby the ministry put the ecclesiastical court case on hold. Grosbøll confirmed his priestly vows by his signature, and was allowed to serve again as parish priest.

During all these events, the parish community in Taarbæk stood by Thorkild Grosbøll.