Passing of an era. . .

The Rev. Halvor Bergan (born 8 August 1931 in Skien, died 3 May 2015) was the about last living Scandinavian Bishop who opposed the ordination of women (there is one Finnish bishop who remains).  He was made bishop of Agder in Norwayin 1983 and retired in 1999. His theological degree was from 1957 and his practical theological exam in 1958.
He was ordained by Bishop Karl Marthinussen to serve as pastor of Håland parish in Stavanger diocese in 1958 and had this service to 1966, when he was appointed pastor of Solum parish. From 1971 he was the first pastor in Nenset. He was also hospital chaplain at Telemark Central Hospital. In 1980 he became pastor in Sauherad. The service here was quite short, for in 1983 he was nominated bishop in college, and after a referendum where he won the majority in all instances, he was appointed bishop by Erling Utnem.
In 1980 he took his doctorate in church history with a dissertation on Confession in the Norwegian Church of the Reformation to the present.  Bergan retired in January 1999 and settled on Melum in Skien. He was followed by Olav Skjevesland as bishop in college.   Among his published works was his 1982 book Confession and Confessional: Confession in the Norwegian Church from the Reformation to the Present Day   (Oslo: Universitetsforl., 286 p. a revision of doctoral dissertation, University of Oslo, 1980).