St. Paul Lutheran Church is joining the churches in Borderland that have had a presence in the community for at least a century.
It will celebrate its 100th anniversary next week.
“It’s an exciting time,” said member Jean Houska. “We’ve been planing for this for quite some time.”
To recognize the milestone, the congregation is inviting the community to attend a special worship service at 4 p.m. Oct. 26 at the church, 1324 Ninth Street, with a dinner to follow.
The church has about 300 confirmed members and is led by the Rev. Jacob Quast, who has filled a vacancy position as pastor since 2012.
Birth of the church
The idea behind establishing a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church in the International Falls area had been on the radar of early organizers since 1906. It took six years before the Rev. M.C.A. Mueller accepted a call in 1912 to establish a congregation in town and become the first of many pastors the church would have during its first 100 years of existence.
At the time, the synod had property on Seventh Street and 10th Avenue. Not wanting to be too far from the central part of town, developers decided to construct a small building on Sixth Street and Sixth Avenue.
“It was built very fast,” said member Stephanie Morrison.
Construction began in March 1913, was completed two months later and on June 1, the site was dedicated. The chapel consisted of an auditorium and three rooms which were to serve as a home for the pastor at the time.
In 1914, the Rev. Ad. Trost began to serve as the pastor for the International Falls church. Upon his arrival, the fresh seminary graduate was asked to preach at eight other locations – Ray, Gemmel, Cedar Spur, Hay Creek, Warroad, and Sleeman, Ontario.
“He traveled by horse,” Houska said.
The International Falls chapel was unique because every other Sunday, it offered two services — one in German and the other in English.
The church’s name started as the St. Paul German Lutheran Church and was later changed to St. Paul English Lutheran Church and eventually settled with the name it has today.
The church’s archives show from 1914-1917, there was only one burial, three marriages performed, and 22 children baptized. The pastor was paid an annual salary of $600 by the mission board.
New location
The church continued to operate at the Sixth Street location for 40 years until the decision was made to relocate to its current spot of Ninth Street and 14th Avenue in 1953. The cost of the project was about $60,000.
The pastor at the time, the Rev. H.E. Bartsch, said a new structure was necessary because of increased membership and additional activity, it was reported in a news story published in The Daily Journal. Sunday worshipers, he said, were frequently turned away because there wasn’t room.
Later that year, St. John’s Lutheran Church of Loman merged with the St. Paul Lutheran Church. The pastor during that time was the Rev. E.F. Schlade.
During Schlade’s ministry, attendance increased for Sunday worship services, a senior choir was organized and a men’s club was established.
In 1966, the congregation started a Wednesday evening worship service in the summer and continues today.
“There is a lot of history packed into 100 years,” Morrison said paging through old documents and a scrapbook of photos.
The church went through many transformations including a new addition built in 1993 on the east side of the structure to add meeting rooms and a kitchen area. Later in 2001, a new parking lot project with sidewalks, steps, handrails and landscaping began.
The former church building was razed in 2012, but Quast says pieces of it will be included in the current building.
“The original stained glass windows were saved and will be installed in this building hopefully this spring,” he said. “They will be put in as we redesign our west wall.”
Behind the scenes
Throughout its existence, the church’s Ladies Aid group has played a key role in the congregation’s operations.
“They are a tremendous part of the main mission work of the church,” Quast said.
From bake sales, to harvest suppers, to ice cream socials, the group of women has taken on several efforts to fundraise for the church.
Church history written by the late Pauline Hartje said when the new parsonage was built in 1952, the Ladies Aid agreed to make the $100 per month payments.
“She wrote that ice cream sundaes were only 25 cents,” Houska said. “Every little bit raised helped with that payment.”
Although the Ladies Aid is active, Quast said there is a strong dedication from the entire congregation, especially to mission work both locally and internationally.
“We have strong connections to congregations in Haiti and for a long time have supported a pastor’s mission work in Sudan,” he said. “Not every congregation is like that, but this one is very strong on missions.”
Next up
As the church looks forward to the next 100 years, Quast said big things could happen in the near future.
“Our congregation is in formal discussions with The Church of the Lutheran Hour in Fort Frances about becoming a joint international parish,” he said. “That would allow me to officially be the pastor of both congregations at the same time...Right now, I’m only temporary (at St. Paul Lutheran).”
Quast said the congregations haven’t ratified anything, but he is hopeful the notion will move forward in the near future because he enjoys serving the St. Paul Lutheran Church and its people.
“This church has a strong dedication to the clear proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said. “As a church body, it is something we’ve always been very diligent about...I think that is what makes us rather unique as a congregation and a church body.”
