Thorkild Grosbøll

Who is Thorkild Grosbøll?

Thorkild Grosbøll is a former parish priest in the Church of Denmark. In the early 2000s he received a lot of media attention in Denmark for publicly stating disbelief in an interventionist creator God.

After various other services, Grosbøll became parish priest in Taarbæk June 1991.

In the spring of 2003, Thorkild Grosbøll published the book En Sten i Skoen, 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, the bishop in Elsinore, Lise-Lotte Rebel, started talks with the priest on June 3, 2003 about his faith. Simultaneously, she relieved him of his duties as parish priest in Taarbæk 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.

On July 23, 2003, Thorkild Grosbøll was allowed to continue his service as a parish priest in Taarbæk, subject to special supervision by the bishop.