Norwegian School of Leadership and Theology – a recap after nearly 20 years

Despite the availability of considerable written material—particularly in the Norwegian Pentecostal movement’s official publication Korsets Seier and in the Christian daily newspaper Dagen—the history of the Norwegian School of Leadership and Theology (HLT) has yet to be systematically documented. The first part of the article provides a descriptive historical account of HLT’s founding and early development, drawing primarily on participant observation and written sources. The final part of the article provides a sociological and practical theological answer to the question: How could HLT emerge and thrive within a movement that has traditionally been anti-academic? The article situates HLT’s emergence within broader developments in Norwegian society, and in particular within Norwegian Pentecostalism, with particular attention to theological education. The case study also highlights the central role of Øyvind Gaarder Andersen, widely recognized as the Norwegian Pentecostal movement’s first academic theologian, whose academic path began in 1972 and culminated in a cand.theol. degree in 1979.