In the Face of the West Wind: Rural churches in the Midwest Lean Years



Ekedahl Lutheran Church, Valparaiso, Neb, ca. 1901. Ekedahl, a Swedish Lutheran congregation, founded in 1895, constructed its first building in 1901. Served once a month by pastors from Lincoln, Wahoo and Ceresco throughout its existence, the congregation dissolved in 1931.	Dr. Martin Luther Church, near Spring Valley, Minn., ca. 1955. This Iowa Synod congregation was established in 1867 and dissolved in 1975. The congregation's original building was constructed in 1873. Its second, pictured here, was built in 1902. St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1.5 miles north of Petersburg, Ohio., ca. 1950. Founded in 1804, with its origins in a Lutheran-Reformed congregation dating to 1801, St. Luke's is thought to have been the oldest Lutheran congregation in Ohio. The congregation's first Lutheran service was held in April 1803 by Pastor John Stauch, later the first president of the Joint Synod of Ohio. The Reformed and Lutherans used the same buildings and same constitution for the first hundred years. St. Luke's dissolved in 1960. Zion Lutheran Church, Carthage, S.D., ca. 1900. Established in 1888, this Augustana Synod congregation constructed its first building in 1899. The congregation merged in 1947 with a Norwegian congregation to form Trinity Lutheran. The congregation’s two old structures were moved and remodeled into one facility in 1952. Ahlsborg Lutheran Church, 12 miles northwest of Elk Point, S.D., ca. 1900. Ahlsborg, an Augustana Synod congregation organized in 1870, merged in 1978 into Dalesburg (Dahlsborg) Lutheran Church, an 1871 Augustana Synod congregation in Vermillion, S.D.
The rural farming population faced numerous challenges through the 20^th century. Depressions and crop failures in the 1890s and 1930s caused many to leave the farm. Small-town businesses, catering to rural customers, also suffered. Improved farming techniques allowed fewer farmers to cultivate more acres. Smaller families also caused a decline in rural congregational membership. As a result many congregations merged or dissolved.
St. John Lutheran Church, Exira, Iowa, ca. 1959. Organized in 1895 as a member of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. John’s merged in 1959 with Oak Hill Lutheran Church of Brayton, Iowa, to form Brayton Lutheran Church. A new building for the merged congregation was constructed in 1960-61. Bethany Lutheran Church, Badger, S.D., ca. 1900. Organized in 1889, this Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church merged in 1965 with First English Lutheran Church, an American Lutheran Church congregation organized in 1925, to form Badger Lutheran.

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