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The History of Immanuel Lutheran Church |
In the summer of 1898 a Swedish-speaking Lutheran pastor, A.J. Ostlin and two parishioners began canvassing the west side of the city for the purpose of bringing children together who had no Sunday School. These kids were too far away from the trolley to go to the Lutheran church downtown, and so the Sunday School program was born. By Autumn1898 the Sunday School was flourishing, even before there was a congregation formed.
On January 4, 1899, the “Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Congregation gathered, with C.B. Johnson leading Sunday School and worship. Eventually Pastor Ostlin left his congregation at 13th and Penn to lead this new congregation. The congregation discarded plans to build a modest brick building, and chose to build a large stone sanctuary at 23rd and Madison. This church building still stands today, home to the shrine of the Virgin Guadelupe, part of the Guadelupe center complex
In the first decade of ministry the church saw five different pastors struggle with the debt of the new church and massive building project. In June 1913 a senior seminarian, Victor Spong accepted a call to serve Immanuel Lutheran Church after his ordination. Pastor Spong spent his entire ministry at Immanuel until passing away suddenly in December 1949 (the congregation’s 50th anniversary).
In 1918 Immanuel sold the stone church to the Guadalupe Catholic Mission and moved south, along with much of the Swedish immigrant community. By the 1920’s Immanuel moved to the old Vogel residence and renamed it Luther Hall. It stood at the rear of our present site. In 1923 the congregation built a parsonage on Genessee Street as a home for pastors and interns. From 1972-2001, the parsonage offered office and residential space for groups such as Human Rescue, Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry, Rose Brooks Center, the Children’s Place, and others.
On April 22, 1928 ground was broken on the present property for the sanctuary. The pulpit and the communion rail were moved from the Madison street church to Luther Hall and then to the present sanctuary. The church was finished and dedicated on February 24, 1929. In 1955 Luther Hall was razed to make room for the west part of the present church, and the current office and fellowship space. Since then the church has undergone one renovation, and is currently in the second. The first of the two involved the renovation of the lower level Sunday school classrooms. The congregation recently completed a renovation of the sanctuary, construction of a new education and fellowship wing, new office space, and improvements to accessibility throughout. |
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