It functioned as a network of priests and congregations led by anti-abortion activists Børre Knudsen, Per Kørner and Ludvig Nessa who rejected what they claimed was the liberal direction of the Church of Norway.
[3] In 1997 priests Arne Thorsen and Olav Berg Lyngmo joined the deanery, and Kørner ordained Knudsen bishop of the "Church of Norway in Exile".
It opposed several of the Church's points of view, most importantly on abortion, homosexuality, and re-marriage after a divorce without legitimate reasons.
[8] Kørner and Nessa did not accept With as bishop as they considered his new leadership to represent a softening position on abortion, and continued to lead their own "exile church" elect-congregations in Western and Eastern Norway.
The congregations led by With reconstituted themselves as the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway in 2013 and became aligned with the Swedish Mission Province.