Mission Statement
The mission of Kongsvinger/St. John’s Lutheran Parish, as a family of God, is to reach out to all people and to share Christ’s message of love, peace, and joy in word and deed.
Rev Rochelle Anderson
B.A. Social Work Texas Lutheran University, Seguine, Tx
M. Div Southwest Seminary , Austin Tx
Partime minister St. John’s/Kongsvinger Lutheran Parish on May/2020
I continue to live in Morris, MN along with my 2 cats. I enjoy reading, meeting with friends and
volunteering at local humane society.
History of Kongsvinger
One of the first settlers in this community was Christian Olsrud, born in Sondre, Odalen, near Kongsvinger, Norway. He went on board ship at Christiania, now Olso, May 1, 1869 with his wife and four children. They came to St. Paul during the summer. Soon they went westward to Cokato with other acquaintances from Norway and worked on the railroad. While they were in Cokato other neighbors came who also worked on the railroad. The whole group went west with oxcarts and horse drawn covered wagons until they came to Douglas Station, Minnesota (later known as Donnelly). They took land claims north and east of Douglas Station. A great number of folks from Kongsvinger, Norway immigrated and settled in the vicinity.
In the old country most of them had been members of the established Church, the Lutheran State Church of Norway. They had been instructed in the fundamentals of the Lutheran faith, and carried with them into the New World, love and reverence for the Word of God and the Lutheran Church. Among their meager worldly effects were invariably found the Bible, “Salmeboken” (hymnal), “Pontoppidans Forklaring” (catechism), and some devotional books.
Men and women, most of who had immigrated from Kongsvinger, Norway, organized Kongsvinger Congregation. The first step toward the organization of settled worship among them was taken September 29, 1876 when the group decided to call a Pastor to start a church. Rev C. Saugstad accepted the call.
On November 19, 1888 at a business meeting, the congregation decided to build a church. Each family of the congregation was asked to contribute $25 toward the building fund, and each single person according to ability. The Ladies’ Aid society had a building fund of $700. The finished church was dedicated November 1, 1906.
February 1, 1968 Kongsvinger Lutheran Church aligned with St. John’s Lutheran Church, Donnelly, MN for a two point parish, sharing a Pastor.
February 1, 1963 Kongsvinger became a member of the New American Lutheran Church, as part of the merger of the Lutheran Free Church to which Kongsvinger had belonged. October 12, 1986 a special meeting was held to vote on the new ELCA church merger. The vote carried and Kongsvinger became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The original structures of the church and parish hall remain in use today.
History of St. John's Church of Donnelly
Written by Edna Mae Busch
A group of Germans started St. John’s in 1902 when the Rev. L. F. Tank came to the Schoolhouse for services [in German]. But in 1904 the new Morris pastor discontinued the services. The first regular attending families were: August Meyer, Fred Gerber, H. Genschaw, L. Boethke, H. Hein and Herman Hein.
Rev. E. Schimfriki of Swan Lake conducted several services for the congregation. In 1905 a new pastor, Rev. Gustav Pilgrim arrived in Morris. By February of 1906, he had the congregation meeting again but this time in English. The names of the following were added to the congregation: S. A. Peterson, William Meyer, H. Ahrens, Andrew Anderson and Alfred Swanson. Then Rev. Pilgrim persuaded the Swedish people west of town who had wanted to start their own church to join with the Germans. Services were held on Sunday afternoons with Rev. Pilgrim coming in a buggy behind two lively stallions. When the weather was bad, the team walked all the way to Donnelly. In 1915, he had speedier transportation when his four congregations presented him with his first automobile. In 1930, he was again presented with a new car.
In 1907 when the Village of Donnelly sold the old schoolhouse, half of it was purchased and moved across the street to land donated by Herman Heins. It was heated by a pot-bellied stove with planks used as benches. Sometimes there were only 3 people in attendance, hardly ever more than 12. [It is said that Rev. Pilgram was not beyond going into a bar and strong-arming a “stray member of the flock” to service.]. The first Church board consisted of the following people: H. Genschaw, Fred Gerber Sr., Andrew Andeson, Gustav Pilgrim and Herman Hein.
When the Presbyterian Church closed in the 1930’s many members joined St. John’s. Some early congregation members came from the disbanded Vinger Congregation [1887-1902] starting the tradition of St. John’s members using the Vinger cemetery. [“Vinger” is Norwegian for “Wings”] Vinger Cemetery was started in 1876 as a burial ground for the Norwegian settlers when Mrs. Anna Erickson Harstad gave permission for the burial of twins, belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Clemet Olson, in the northwest corner of her homestead on Harstad Lake. She planned to give 2 acres for a cemetery. When Kongsvinger Church [King’s Wings] was organized in 1876, Pastor Saugstad dedicated it as a “holy burying ground”. The congregation split in the 1880’s and the Kongsvinger congregation started a new cemetery farther north. The earliest collaboration between Kongsvinger and St. John’s is when St. John’s borrowed the Kongsvinger Church building in 1906 to hold confirmation services.
In 1907 an application for membership was presented to the Joint Synod of Ohio and Adjacent States. The application was approved. The current Church building was built in 1954. It is believed to have been the first ground level church built in Stevens County.
Formal Rostered Pastors for St. John’s were:
Rev. Gustave A. Pilgrim 1905-1936
Rev. Fred A. Meske 1936-1937
Rev. Christian Kumpf 1937-1938
Rev. Allen Bergquist 1939-1942
Rev. John R. Vagts 1943-1948
Rev. Alfred L. Oelschlager 1949-1951
Rev. Elton R Walth 1952-1956
Rev. Kenneth M. Kittner 1957-1959
Rev. Arnold Bunge 1960-1962
Rev. Clarence Johnson 1963-1968
Rev. James W. Hecker 1968-1971
Rev. Clayton C. Engan 1972-1978
Rev. Donald E. Larson 1979-1982
Rev. Stephen E. Olson 1982-1989
Rev. Joel Dahlen 1989-1996
Rev. Timothy V. Olson 1996-1999
