Northern Lights Cathedral Church as the main church for the deanery. The "Northern Lights" are the Aurora Borealis associated with the Arctic night sky. At the opening service, bishop Per Oskar Kjølaas admitted that the word was contentious since it technically meant not a parish church but a cathedral (for which the more common Norwegian word is ). He defended the name by the informal precedents of the and , and argued that a bishop is at home in all churches of the diocese. Northern Lights Cathedral The Northern Lights Cathedral - Alta Church () is a parish church of the Church of
County of Northern Lights of 3,555. As a census subdivision in the 2011 Census of Population, Northern Lights had a population of 4,117 living in 1,527 of its 1,655 total dwellings, a 9.1% change from its 2006 population of 3,772. This includes the population of the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement (562) located within the census subdivision that is a municipality independent of the County of Northern Lights. With a land area of , the census subdivision had a population density of in 2011. As a municipality in the 2011 Census, the County of Northern Lights had a population of 3,555 without the Paddle Prairie