Spreading the Gospel in 'The Preacher's Graveyard'

It is a country that's been called the preacher's graveyard. While more than 80 percent  of people in Iceland call themselves Christian, it may actually be Europe's most godless country. 

Despite their Christian heritage, most Icelanders are only Christian by default, according to one church planter. An Icelandic law says if a child's parents are registered to the state church, they are automatically listed as Christians. 

This created a country full of people who are Christian on paper but not Christian at heart. 

Gunnar Ingi Gunnarsson is a pastor on the frontlines of the battle to spread the gospel in Iceland. He and his wife started church planting there in an effort to revive the spiritually dead country.  He says the biggest problem is not hostility to the gospel, but apathy. 

"It is just the apathy," Gunnarsson told CBN News. "It's the relativistic kind of thinking where 'that works for you and that's great but I don't need Jesus.'"

Traditional evangelism strategies like hosting revival events and handing out pamphlets downtown are seeing little impact. That's why Gunnarsson is turning to the arts and every day relationships to bring people to Christ. 

"We've got a really artistic culture and we're trying to use the arts for the glory of God and to share the gospel," he says. "It seems like everyone in the church that we have right now is because people have been faithful in their daily lives telling their friends about the gospel."

Though the growth may seem small, Gunnarsson and his church are doing everything they can to introduce Iceland to Jesus again. 

"We're seeing some people come to faith but we're plowing away and we're hoping that our children and grandchildren will reap the seeds that we've sown and we'll be faithful no matter what we see with our eyes." he says.