Zion Lutheran Church to celebrate a century of service

“When you think of someone starting the church 100 years ago, and then for us to be able to carry on that work that they started — it’s a blessing,” said Barg, who has been involved with the church her whole life, and continues through her current retirement years. Barg is co-chair of the church’s centennial committee.

 The festivities are scheduled to take place July 27-29 at the church, which has always been located at the corner of 6th Avenue and 6th Street in the Falls.

The events over the weekend are open to the public. The festivities will showcase a century of history and heritage — highlighting service to the community, outreach and the evolution of the church, a place that some community members still call their second home.

“Our church life is something that will always stay with us and be with us,” said Barg, who said she is thankful she grew up with her “church family.” She says she misses the days when church on Sundays was a bigger part of the community.

“Church isn’t a part of people’s lives like it was,” Barg said. “It used to be like a close family.”

Starting as the Norwegian Lutheran Church at its inception, the structure has gone through 40 pastors, thousands of weddings and other ceremonies and a number of community accomplishments. The church has undergone several remodels and one complete tear down and rebuilding in the 1980s. This week, the church is getting its siding replaced in preparation for the 100th year celebration.

Historical displays around the church will be the focus of the centennial celebrations. Videos, slide shows and old photos will be shown. Past pastors of the church will join in the celebration to give remembrances.

In the old days, two of the pastors of the church would walk the railroad tracks from the Falls to Littlefork to conduct services and visit people. One of them was Rev. Rudolph Evans, the longest pastor of the church, serving for 38 years, until 1961. Evans died in 1968.

“When you stop to think ...that’s quite a ways to walk,” said Helen Williams, co-chair of the centennial committee. “But the roads weren’t very usable and transportation wasn’t that great because of the remoteness of the community.”

Evans is an integral part of the church’s history. Williams remembers working with him on projects in her younger years, during junior high and high school.

“One of the stories that goes around here is an old story about Pastor Evans,” Williams said. “He went to the city council and asked them to build a parsonage for him. They told him to get a wife, and we’ll build you a parsonage. He said, ‘I’ll get a wife,’ and sure enough, he did, and the council built him the church’s first parsonage.”

His sense of humor kept the church members motivated, and his enthusiasm for community outreach gave the church a welcoming reputation throughout the years, she said.

“He was very instrumental in getting the Red Cross in town during the second world war,” Williams said. “And the church sent care packages to Norway during the war because of lack of food.”

The church and Evans were cited by the king of Norway, the British government and the American Red Cross for the social service work during World War II.

The Norwegian heritage is a significant part of the history of the church, and Norwegian tea and snacks will be served at the centennial celebration. Some members will come dressed in traditional Norwegian attire at an ice cream social. The weekend will end with a celebratory Sunday service.

“When they first started this church, they took notes in Norwegian for the church council,” Williams said with a laugh. “We can’t even read them.”

The church received national media attention over the years for its work in sponsoring the local Boy Scouts. It was recognized for the percentage of boys the church helped to attain Eagle Scout rank, the highest rank in the troops.

Evans cofounded the American Legion during his time with the church, served on the Falls School Board, was a leader in the American Red Cross, was a member of Falls Memorial Hospital Board, Salvation Army Board and March of Dimes committee. Evans was named Falls Citizen of the Year in 1958. His involvement in the community led other members to the same type of community service, Barg and Williams agreed. They, too, are examples of members inspired by Evans to do service work.

“This church has always been very active in the community, and it continues to do that today,” Williams said. “I’m very proud of what the church has done.

Today, the church is involved with the Clothes Closet, services for families who lose their homes in fires, among several other outreach programs. The church does large mission projects with other churches around the state as well. Still today, the church’s Sunday service is broadcast live on the local radio station for those who are not physically able to leave their home.

Music was — and still is — an integral part of the church and its worship services. It serves as an outlet for community members interested in choir and orchestra. At one time, the church had five choirs. To this day, the church still carries on the Zion Strings, a string orchestra, and The Zion Chimes, a hand bell choir.

“Music in worship is a part of our heritage,” Barg said.

The church has been impacted over the years by significant changes in the Falls, as have many other churches, Barg said. When Boise’s paper mill downsized and the local population declined, the church became less busy. At one time, Williams recalls, the Sunday school housed 600 children, the church had two pastors at a time, three services a day, and more than 1,000 members.

“The church was very children-centered,” Williams said. “It was the same kids that you ran around with outside. In many respects, it was our second home.”

Barg and Williams are members of the Zion Lutheran Church Women. In 1912, the group was called the Norwegian Ladies’ Aid — the group that started the church. The women raised money to buy the property upon which the church was built. Through the years, they had suppers, bake sales and other fundraisers to slowly pay for the building’ pews, velvet for the altar rail and copies of testaments.

Williams, who left the Falls at age 18, said when she returned more than 20 years later, the church was still a place she loved to go.

“When I came back, it was like I never left,” she recalled. “It was just like coming home.”

Barg said as the years go on, she is sad to see some people allowing the church to fall by the wayside in their daily lives.

“Sundays used to be about family and about church,” Barg recalled. “Our groups are getting smaller and it’s hard to recruit the younger families because they grew up in a time when church was not such a priority.”

She said that without the focus on churches, she worries about the future.

“With so many other things taking our time, I feel that some of (the significance of church) is going to pass away,” Barg said.

She says that this is something she could never have imagined as a child, walking through the halls of the church, attending Sunday school and helping with fund raisers and projects.

“You didn’t think about a time when we would wonder, ‘What if we don’t have this anymore,’ or ‘What if people don’t come,’” Barg said. “As I’ve aged, I look back and I see it now.”

The church no longer has a Luther League — a group of young church members involved in the community. Bible study has gotten much smaller, and the Sunday service draw on average about 150 people compared with hundreds or thousands attending years before.

“You wonder what is going to happen to churches as the years go on,” Barg said. “Who is going to care for the church, and are they going to care for it as their church home?”

But as Barg rings the old church bell next month, she said she will be looking forward to continuing positive work, while recalling memories with pride.

“We’re still on a mission and hope that we can be of service yet in 2012 and for many more years to come,” Barg said. “And we hope we will still be all at the corner of 6th Avenue and 6th Street, like we’ve been for 100 years.”