A Norwegian church's decision to allow its members to track their religious status online has backfired spectacularly, with tens of thousands people quitting the church in what is being called a 'one-click exodus'. 

More than 25,000 people have de-registered themselves as members of the Lutheran Church of Norway since the church launched a website on August 12 offering its faithful the opportunity to sign up or check on their religious status. 

But it is the website's third option - that of leaving the church - that has proven to be by far the most popular. Almost 11,000 used the website to quit the church on the very day the website was launched, and that number has now more than doubled. 

Church officials have put on a brave face in the wake of the mass exodus.  

“We were prepared for a significant number of resignations and have great respect for the individual's choice,” said Helga Haugland Byfuglien, the leading bishop of the Norwegian churches episcopal forum.  

The Lutheran Church was Norway's official state religion until 2012, when the government voted to make a clear distinction between church and state. 

Polls about Norwegians' religious beliefs regularly show that most Norwegians do not believe in a higher power.

A recent survey of 4,000 people found that 39 per cent said "no" when asked whether they believed in God, 37 per cent said "yes" and the remaining 23 per cent said they did not know.

Even Norwegians signed up as church members are at best lukewarm. A survey published in March found that of the Lutheran church's 3.8 million members, only 48 per cent considered themselves to be Christian.