History

Faith Lutheran Church in Grantsburg is rooted in the traditions of the Norwegian Lutheran Church.

Wood River Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church was established by immigrants in 1863. By 1905, many Norwegians spoke English and wished for English services. Many were living in the Village of Grantsburg and they met at the Simon Thoreson house to organize the English Evangelical Lutheran Church. Professor O.E. Brandt of Luther Seminary was made chairman. The other first officers elected were Nordal C. Unseth, secretary and S.E. Jensen, treasurer.

A lot for the proposed church was bought from Thorsten Olson for $472, paid by the Ladies Aid. The building committee – Simon Thoreson, G.H. Trolander and J.H. Jensen – was busy in the spring of 1905 with building problems such as the feasibility of a slanted floor and whether the church building should be of concrete or frame construction. The Burnett County Sentinel tells of the cornerstone laying on September 24, 1905, “with services held in the open and at tended by throngs of people.”

The first congregational meeting in the new church was held on March 4, 1906 with Professor Brandt as chairman. Rev. M.J. Meland was made advisory member. A motion was made to extend a call for a pastor at a salary of $600 a year.

Rev. J.A. Tweten accepted the call and was installed on August 12, 1906 as the first pastor. The church consisted of about 12 families.

The new church was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1906. The Sentinel reported that the church building cost $8,000 to construct. The Ladies Aid served Thanksgiving dinner at noon and supper after the afternoon lecture. There was an informal reception after an evening concert.

Thomas Tollefson became the first janitor and was paid $25 a year. Older members requested having one service a month in Norwegian.

Rev. Tweten also began serving Wood River Norwegian Lutheran Church in 1907 and added Logging Creek and Webster congregations in 1908. He traveled by horse and buggy. Before leaving his Grantsburg parish in 1909, Pastor Tweten married Maud Kent of Wood River at English Lutheran. Later in 1909, the Rev. S.L. Thompson was installed at English Lutheran. Besides his pastoral duties, he was expected to solicit money for his salary. It was quite an event when he replaced his team of horses with an automobile in July, 1914. But his need for a car was great because he conducted occasional services at Yellow Lake, Webster, Logging Creek, Ekdall and Karlsborg, in addition to Wood River and English Lutheran. Thompson ended his ministry at English in 1915 but he served Wood River until 1917.

The Rev. T.E. Danielson of St. Olaf Lutheran and student pastors from Luther Seminary filled the English Lutheran pulpit at various times until 1917.

In 1917 English Lutheran, St. Olaf and Wood River became one parish. Together, the churches called Pastor K.A. Kasberg who arrived in the fall of 1917.

Services were canceled for many weeks in January and February 1918 because of the severe flu pandemic.

Bethany is formed

The St. Olaf and Wood River congregations united in 1918 and in 1921 the new congregation named itself Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church. Pastor Kasberg was granted a leave of absence in January 1924 due to an illness. He died on March 29, 1924.

In July 1924, the Rev. H.J. Wickre accepted the call at a salary of $1,200 a year with Bethany paying $675 and English paying $525. The church women and all confirmands 18 and older were granted voting privileges in October 1924.

In the early summer of 1927, Rev. O.A. Olson became pastor. At the annual meeting in January 1928, Mrs. A.M. Anderson was elected for a two-year term as the first woman trustee.

The church started using offering envelopes in 1930. Together, Bethany and English furnished a room in the new Grantsburg Community Hospital. The Rev. Harry Walker accepted the call to serve Bethany, English and Melbourne Lutheran in Pine City, MN in the fall of 1931.

On January 24, 1937, Rev. Walker married Gladys Olson, who had been active in youth work at English Lutheran.

At the annual meeting in 1941, the church decided to dispense with Sunday evening services. In June of that year, Pastor Walker resigned to accept another call. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day, Pastor James Falk delivered his first sermon at English Lutheran. He organized and taught a 10-week Sunday School teachers training course each fall for four years. Teachers from English Lutheran, Bethany and Trinity Lutheran in Falun participated in this program.

In 1946, the parish churches helped the Luther League build the Grantsburg cabin at Luther Point Bible Camp. Rev. Falk left in 1953 to be chaplain and counselor at the Norwegian Old People’s Home Society in Chicago.

Rev. Tenner Thompson Jr. arrived in the spring of 1953 and was installed by his father, Rev. Tenner Thompson Sr., on July 26th. The new pastor started Wednesday night Bible classes and the church began celebrating communion monthly instead of quarterly.

Bethany burns

Bethany Lutheran was struck by lightning in 1954 and burned. The congregation worshiped wi th Engl ish Lutheran through the next year while the new church was being built. The churches’ Sunday Schools and choirs were combined and many months of Christian fellowship were enjoyed. On Easter Sunday 1955, Pastor Thompson conducted the first service in Bethany’s new church.

English Lutheran celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 5, 1955 with morning, afternoon and evening services. The Ladies Aid served the noon meal and refreshments after the Confirmation Reunion in the afternoon. Rev. J.O. Tweten, the church’s first pastor, spoke at the 8:00 pm service. Rev. R.J. Meland, who helped organize the church, gave a greeting and sang the Norwegian hymn, "Den Store Hvide Flok." (Translation: "Behold A Host Arrayed in White.")

Pastor Thompson married Roma Seaver in 1957, before completing his four years of ministry at English Lutheran.

Pastor and Mrs. Wesley Haugen and son Timothy moved into the just-completed parsonage on Wisconsin Avenue when he accepted the call in October 1957.

First Lutheran was established September 12, 1884 and was better known as the Swedish Lutheran Church, passed a resolut ion in November 1960 to affiliate wi th Engl ish Lutheran. Membership and Sunday School enrollment increased so there was a great need to expand or build. Sunday School classes were being held in the nearby Grantsburg Public Library, First Lutheran Church and the Sherstads’ home in addition to those at English Lutheran.

Carlyle Sherstad, chairman of the stewardship committee, spearheaded the fund drive for a new church building. The financial drive began in October 1961.

Pastor Haugen resigned to accept another call in 1963. Pastor Alan Madson accepted the call in 1963 and renewed energy was given to building a new church building. An architect was hired and bids were opened on June 30, 1965. At a special meeting on July 19, 1965, the congregation voted to build a new church building “to the glory of God and for the benefit of man.”

Ground was broken on August 11th with two pioneers participating; C. George Jensen, the only surviving charter member and Mrs. Alice (Hickerson) Anderson whose parents helped settle Grantsburg in the 1860s. Construction began a few weeks later.

Church name changes

At the annual meeting held on January 19, 1966, the congregation voted to change its name to Faith Lutheran Church.

Faith Lutheran's new building was dedicated on September 11, 1966. The church held an open house for the community in the afternoon and an evening organ concert. Pastor Madson’s artistic talents inspired the stainedglass windows in the sanctuary. The Madsons left to establish a new congregation in southeastern Wisconsin in January 1969.

Carlsons arrive

Rev. Myron Carlson, Lois and their son Paul moved into the parsonage in February 1969 and began their ministry with us.

Live radio broadcasting of the Sunday worship began October 5, 1975, serving the elderly, shut-ins and a large number of listeners in nearby communities. Over the years, Maurice Crownhart, Connie Martinson and Dennis Johnson have been instrumental and faithful in ensuring our WCMP broadcast ing and sound systems are intact.

In February 1980, the congregation sold the parsonage to the Carlsons.

Faith’s membership has grown. In 1989 the church had 482 members, 585 in 1995 and 609 members in 2004. Over the years Faith has employed parish youth leaders. In 1983 Chris Bengea was hired as the first youth director, followed by Julie Hendrickson in 1987. Bethany Westre started working with Faith and Bethany in 1988. Debbie Rombach was youth coordinator for 1991-1992; Betsy Monge served from 1993-1996 and Lisa Steen worked from 1996-1998. Heather Jensen served as youth and family coordinator from 1998-2003. Mandi Amundson and Becky Berg took the position in the fall of 2003.

In 1992, Todd Anderson was hired to direct the senior choir. He replaced Berdella Johnson who had directed all the choirs at different times for more than 30 years. Other senior choir directors have included Morris Skinner, Alice Biederman, Ed Manteufel, Andy Johnson and Kjellgren Hestigan.

Church expansion

In 1993, the church began discussing plans for an expansion. In January 1995, the council recommended proceeding with construction when the church had funds in the building account equal to half the projected costs. The congregation voted 120-23 in favor of this plan.

In the fall of 1995, ground was broken for an addition that doubled the space in the social hall, added a council room, youth and family ministry office and three rooms for Sunday School instruction, ample storage space and a room for choir robes and music.

In 1997, Anne Kallman retired as church treasurer after 20 years of service. Sheila Odegard and her husband, Jay, took the job in January 1998 and began keeping the records on computer. Sheila took over the financial part of the secretary’s job in April 2002. She eventually took over the remaining secretarial duties after Eileen Lundequam retired in 2004. Eileen had served the church’s secretarial needs for 29 years.

At the end of 2003, Betty Skinner, the church custodian, announced that she was retiring after serving the church’s custodial needs for 30 years.

In January 2000, Bethany proposed ending its parish relationship with Faith and the church became independent in October 2000.

In January 2001, a special Faith congregational meeting called Pastor Myron Carlson to serve Faith only. This was necessary to comply with synod rules. Later that year, recorded chimes were installed with gift funds from the Norman Pederson estate.

Church son ordained

Andrew Carlson, the son of Pastor Myron and Lois Carlson, was ordained at Faith in April 2003. He serves two congregations in northern Minnesota.

Besides those named in this article, there are countless people who have contributed their time, talents and money to English and Faith over the past century. Thanks to all, past and present, for your service to Christ and the church.

Though the village church was organized by Norwegian immigrants, few in 2005 remain from that heritage. Yet, together in faith and gratitude, the members of Faith Lutheran Church will go forward to meet the challenges of a new century of worship and service in Christ’s name.

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