Rev. Canon Dr Trond Bakkevig is a pastor of the (Lutheran) Church of Norway. Born in 1948, Bakkevig has a doctorate in theology from the University of Oslo (1979). From 1987-88, he was personal adviser to the Norwegian state minister of foreign affairs, and from 1984-93 general secretary of the Church of Norway Council on Foreign Relations. From 1993 to 2000, he served as pastor of the Röa parish in Oslo; he is currently dean of Vestre Aker, a grouping of eleven Oslo city parishes.
Since 1996, Bakkevig has helped facilitate dialogue between Christians, Muslims and Jewish religious leaders in Palestine/Israel, as well as with politicians and international church bodies on the situation there; this task has involved extensive contacts with political and religious leaders in Iran and other Middle East countries.
From 1997 to 2006, he was a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. He has served on various ecumenical commissions and also been an advisor to the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation.
In Norway, he has served as moderator or vice-moderator of a variety of other bodies, including the Norwegian Human Rights Institute at Oslo University, the university's Centre for Development and Environment, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and the Norwegian chapter of the Council of Christian Approaches to Disarmament and Defence, among others, the Norwegian Church Aid and the Oslo Inner-City Mission.
In 2002, a Church of Norway commission on church-state relationships produced a report that led to substantial changes in how the church was organized as well as its relationship with the state; Bakkevig was the moderator of that commission.
Bakkevig has published several books, and scientific and popular articles. Among these, his dissertation dealt with theology and nuclear arms. He has also written a book about his church and his own involvement in the struggle against the apartheid system in South Africa.