First Lutheran Church ready to build in 2003

By MaryHelen Swanson
At a special congregational meeting Sept. 22, 2002, the members of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rush City voted 92-27 to build a new church building on an 11-acre lot at south Jay Avenue and West 8th Street.
Like their forefathers in 1876, they are placing their trust in the Lord and moving ahead in faith. And the hope of the church members, lofty as it may be, is that they will be celebrating Christmas 2003 in their new building.
ìA lot of work went into making it happen,î said Pastor Laurie OíShea.
The congregation studied the issues, and members were interviewed about what they like about the present church and what they felt was needed to fulfill the needs of the congregation and the community into the future.
Every church committee had an input, he said.
And when the dream began to grow among the congregation, and the visionary committee had a 26-page document filled with the thoughts of the people at First Lutheran, MCL Architects was hired to take their thoughts and goals and design a new church building with their ideas in mind.
ìForward in Faithî was the theme of the campaign to move ahead. It become real when the sign was placed on the empty Jay Avenue lot.
The congregation needed to sell some property in order to get financing, but area lending agencies were willing to help the church, Pastor OíShea said.
The new church is expected to cost $1.7 million and will have a sanctuary to seat 350 people.
There was no place to grow at the present site on the corner of 5th Street and Harte Avenue. The lot was donated to the church in 1876. The first church building was erected in 1877 by members of the congregation who were on call for labor at an agreed price of $1.25 per day.
The new church, phase one, according to Pastor OíShea, will have 12,986 square feet. The 11-acres site will provide ample parking and room for growth. Being the visionaries they are, the members think they might one day open a day care facility for people of all ages.
The congregation will be taking the stained glass windows, the bell, the organ and the altar which may be used in a phase two chapel. The fellowship hall will be built for 150 people. The building will be all on one level.
During the planning there were countless temple talks and testimonies from young and old, OíShea said, about what it means to move forward in faith.
There are those with strong ties to the old building, he said, but added ìwho is it we worship?î
ìGod is everywhere.î
There will always be the memories, he said, but noted that not everyone lives in the same house all their life. The congregation will be selling the present church.
New church committee members were: Phyllis Bohaty, Darrell Borgstrom, Lynette Buehring, Steve Carlson, John Hischer, Marlen Holmberg, Vern Koepp, Harold Lind, Kerrie Lindell, Fred Meissner, Tom Munchow, Kirt Wiener and Cele Schoeberl,who chaired the committee.
Sub-finance committee members were: Bob Frandsen, Vada Hanson, Joan Hischer, Dennis Kaufmann and Vern Koepp, who served as chairman.
As the brick and mortar go up and the congregation of First Lutheran awaits the completion of their new church, theyíll be carrying on a 127-year-old tradition of moving forward in faith that began with the Swedish settlers in early Rush City.

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