 Dismissed as parish priest of Balsfjord in 1983 due to his refusal to perform his official state duties in protest against new abortion laws, he helped establish the Deanery of Strandebarm in 1991, also known as the "Church of Norway in Exile".He was ordained as bishop by the church in 1997 until retiring in 2008 due to failing health.He was defrocked from the Church of Norway in 2001.