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bers, elected by the parishioners. There is, moreover, another council 
consisting of all the clergymen of the deanery and a lay member for 
each parish. These two councils manage the ecclesiastical affairs within 
their respective parishes and deaneries. 
The Icelandic Church has always been liberal in her views, even 
the so-called orthodox branch of it; and Pietism and other extreme 
movements have never been much in vogue there, while, on the other 
hand, spiritualism and the new theology have many atherents among 
the younger clergy. 
Besides their clerical duties, clergymen are also charged with the 
annual public registration; they have, moreover, to record, formally 
and exactly, all births, deaths, and marriages, as the church registers 
are the only official records of these events.