In 1995, he was head of Credo Forlag, a publishing house owned by the Norwegian Christian Student and School Association.

[5] After a round of input from various church bodies, Reinertsen remained as a candidate together with Anne-May Grasaas and Ludvig Bjerkreim.

Minister of Church affairs Rigmor Aasrud also attended the event which was led by bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien who was the Preses.

[7] Early in his career, he was opposed to ordination of women to priesthood, but he changed his view as a result of further studies of bible texts and conversations with former bishop Odd Bondevik.

[9] This stance was criticised by politicians and others, with the leader of the Vest-Agder Labour Party Linda Verdal leaving the church in protest.

In subsequent interviews, Reinertsen underlined that subordinate priests in the diocese were free to follow their own conscience on the issue and he would not discourage them from marrying divorced persons.