out to Lutheran organizations in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. From 2001 to 2004, he was a member of the National Council for Priorities in Health Care. From 2002 to 2007 he was a member, and for some time chairman, of the North Sami Liturgy Committee. Until 2014, he was chair of the Norwegian Missionary Society's activities in Finnmark county. In addition, he was involved in programs working with disabled people abroad, in the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Romania, Russia, and Tanzania. Episcopal career Election In late August 2014, the Church Council of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland met in Tromsø to elect a new bishop. The election was between the three candidates who had received the most support in a preliminary poll: Olav Øygard, the 58-year-old priest in Alta, Herborg Finnset, a 53-year-old priest in Tromsø, and Hans Arne Akerø, the 65-year-old section head of the Church Council. While Øygard and Finnset were the leading two in the preliminary/advisory poll, both faced challenges to becoming elected. While Finnset was the favorite of most bishops, she faced opposition from the theologically conservative Laestadians in the diocese, who warned they would not accept a female bishop. And the most prominent issue dividing the candidates was homosexual marriage, with Finnset supporting it, and Øygard and Akerø opposing it. In the preliminary/advisory poll, Øygard and Finnset were leading in votes, but Øygard won the first round of voting at the Church Council elections. In the final round of voting on 25 September 2014, between the top two candidates, Øygard received eight votes, and Finnset received seven. He became the third bishop created in the Church of Norway since the power to appoint bishops was transferred from the King to the Church Council. Øygard's election was announced at a press conference later that day, hosted by Church Council president Svein Arne Lindo. Introducing Øygard, Lindø said:"The new bishop is a mild and generous person who knows the diocese he becomes a bishop in very well. The Church Council has, among other things, emphasized Øygard's long-standing priestly service in Finnmark—in recent years as a priest in Alta. It has given him valuable leadership experience. The poll results show that Øygard has solid support in the diocese. The Church of Norway gets a bishop who makes room for different opinions. He emphasizes that faith in Jesus Christ unites the Church. It is a very good