He began his theological studies in 1888 and received his
cand.theol. degree in 1894. He was a teacher in
Kristiania from 1895 to 1897. Then he was assistant priest at
Våler Church in
Våler Municipality in 1897 for one year. Next, he was hired as a
chaplain serving the parish for
Vang Municipality in
Hedmark county. Then in 1905, be moved to
Norddal Municipality in
Sunnmøre to be the parish priest. In 1910 he became the parish priest for
Stranda Municipality and a year later he was called to be the
dean of the
Østre Sunnmøre deanery, a job he held from 1911 to 1919. In 1919, he was called to be the parish priest at
St. Petri Church in
Stavanger. During that time, he was also the chairman of the
Norwegian Missionary Society from 1921 until 1923 and again in 1928. In 1924, it was decided that the large
Diocese of Kristiansand was going to be divided with all of
Rogaland county becoming the newly re-established
Diocese of Stavanger which had been dormant since 1682. On 1 January 1925, the new diocese came into existence and Jacob Christian Petersen was appointed to be its first
Bishop. He was the first "Bishop of Stavanger" since
Jacob Jensen Jersin in 1682. Petersen retired in 1940 and he lived until the age of 94. He died in 1964. ==References==