Saron Lutheran Church
Augustana Synod
(1860-1962)
Albany Park (Olavus Petri, All Saints)
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Saron Lutheran Church
Saron Lutheran Church was organized as the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Saron Church in 1888, as a member of the Augustana Synod in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. In the fall of 1890 the original church building (pictured below) at Shakespeare and Richmond was constructed. In 1901 a basement was added.

SaronAug1.jpg (43129 bytes)

The original building was replaced in 1913 with the new building (pictured at top) dedicated on October 22, 1913.

Regular morning services in English were held beginning in 1918. In 1925 English was adopted as the official language and the name was changed to the Evangelical Lutheran Saron Church. The last Swedish services was held in 1941. Around 1958 the name was changed to Saron Lutheran Church.

Saron disbanded on August 31, 1979.

Pastors
George Youngdahl 1888-1889
Eric J.A. Rosenquist 1889-1904
Carl Christenson 1905-1940
Vernon E. Ryding 1941-1948
Harry L. Shogren 1948-1952
Norman A. Nelson 1953-1961
O. Arnold Olson 1962-1965
Calvin D. Kuder 1966-1970
Thomas P. Steele, Jr. 1973-1976
Paul L. Ninnemann 1976-1979
Sons of the congregation
Roy W. Johnson
Norman V. Ryding

Original records
Original records are located at the ELCA Region 5 Archives in Dubuque, Iowa. The ELCA has microfilm of membership records Older books have been microfilmed and are available from the ELCA Archives and from the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. Church minutes from 1888-1923 are on film Augustana #A27, while membership records from 1888-1930 are on film Augustana #A27. The ELCA Archives also has congregational histories and other materials relating to Saron.


Sources
The Evangelical Lutheran Saron Church, Saron's Golden Anniversary, 1938.

Saron Lutheran Church, Seventy-Five Years of Christian Service, 1888-1963.

Copyright 2002 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Last modified 04/30/08   
Please contact the Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
at archives@elca.org with any comments, questions or corrections.