Jan. 2002

MINDEKIRKEN CONGREGATION 80 YEARS.
By: Ole Amund Gillebo, Pastor

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church was founded on January 9, 1922. The purpose was to work for God's kingdom among Norwegian speaking people in the Twin Cities area. This congregation wanted to welcome home all newcomers and to be a strong tie between Norway and the Norwegian-American community.

After World War I the US society was changing very much and so were the churches. Most of the native Norwegian churches turned into English speaking congregations during the 20ties. In this situation Mindekirken was established with its strong vision of keeping the Norwegian church tradition and preserve the cultural heritage. The focus of the founders was the opportunity to worship in their native language.

The group of founders led by Rev. C.J. Eastvold, President of the Southeastern District of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, did the planing. The planning group was six men and one woman. After several meetings and discussions our congregation was organized with 22 charter members on Jan 9,1922. At the beginning the small congregation met for their gatherings at several locations, but in 1926 they purchased the present location. The first step of erecting the church building was the basement where the services were held for quite a while until the erecting of the church was completed in the spring of 1930. There was a lot of money support from people, but the cost was rather high, about $ 185.000 for the building, organ and the tower chimes.

The 2:30 PM dedication service was conducted by Dr. J. A. Assgaard, president of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, assisted by Dr. Nils Kleven, president of the district of Southern Minnesota, and a number of Twin City pastors.

Lawrence J.Munson, director of the Munson School of Music, New York, and brother of Rev. Christian Munson, current Pastor of the Church, played the new organ assisted by the Norse Male Chorus, which was directed by Professor Fredrick Wick.

At 5 o'clock Governor Theodore Christianson was the guest speaker and at 7:45 Dr. Jacob Tanner, of the Luther Theological Seminary was lecturing.

The Altar Painting and the Stain Glass Windows are something significant and has its own history and meaning.

Reading about the history of Mindekirken and the very beginning is moving and inspiring.

The 80th Anniversary Celebration
Sunday 13th of January 2002

At the 80th Anniversary we will for sure celebrate the past, but even more we are going to look toward the future.

Our guest preacher this Sunday is Pastor T. Michael Harty. He previously was a very active member of Mindekirken for many years. He recently graduated from Luther Seminary and was ordained in August, 2001. He is currently serving as Pastor of Rush River Lutheran Church near River Falls, Wisconsin.

 He will preach at both services that Sunday. This particular Sunday also will be New Member Sunday at Mindekirken. We want to take the opportunity to welcome and present all new associate and full members from last fall.

The Church Council has decided to take the opportunity of the Anniversary to have a Membership Drive of 6 months, and 13th of January is a kind of "kick off".

We can work for membership growth in many ways, but one thing is that the Council wants to challenge every member to find a new member each. All of you know someone to ask and to welcome as new a member to join the unique fellowship at Mindekirken.

Bring along from church some information pamphlets and hand them to friends and people around.

If each one brought one new member, that would mean a significant step forward If we really love Mindekirken, we should do something for membership growth during this year of anniversary celebration. This is one way how we as individuals might take responsibility for the future of Mindekirken.

Let us go ahead - together!

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716