Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

1. Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church Marker

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From the National Register Nomination:
The first Swedish settlers arrived in 1865. On May 7, 1866 the first meeting was held to establish the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church at Swedesburg. Almost immediately Moses Lemmon donated one and one-half acres in the far southeast corner of Section 21 for a church but it was two years before the structure was actually built.

By 1882 the church had become too small for the growing congregation and there was talk of building a larger one. The need became immediate when fire destroyed the original church in January 1883. Construction soon began on a new, larger church. The new wood frame church was painted white and it became known as "The Big White Church in the Little White Town."

In June 1927 the Swedish church was again ravaged by fire. Roads in the area had not yet been paved, and it was very difficult for fire equipment to get

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

2. Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church Marker

The marker is mounted just to the left of the southeast entrance.

to Swedesburg. The church was destroyed before help arrived. The decision to invest in an architect and the use of brick for the third church speak to the importance of the building to the people of the congregation, the deep faith they had in the continued existence of both their church and their community, and the continuing prosperity of the area. There is a strong Swedish presence in the village of Swedesburg, and it is centered on the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The congregation was officially organized in 1866. The present church was built in 1928 as the third church to stand on the same site. The first frame church, built in 1868, was destroyed in a fire in 1883. The second frame church, with a 110-foot (34 m) tower, was completed the same year. In 1927 it too was also destroyed by fire. The congregation hired Burlington, Iowa architect W.F. Weibley to design the present Late Gothic Revival church building. It is composed of tan brick with Bedford stone trim. The congregation began to use English instead of Swedish in their programming beginning with the children's Sunday School classes in 1910. The men's Sunday School class was the last group to switch to English in the 1920s.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

3. Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church (east elevation)

The perseverance of the congregation and their faith in God helped them plan and build our current church building in one year at a cost of $60,000, of which roughly $10,000 was spent on the purchase and installation of a pipe organ from the Bennett Company of Rock Island, Illinois. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the organ would be roughly $150,000 in 2020. The inaugural services for our church began with a Grand Organ Dedication Concert on Thursday, July 19, 1928, given by Dr. Cyril Graham, professor of Organ at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. The program featured Soprano soloist, Mrs. Katheryn Kansten Thul, also from Rock Island, in a diverse repertoire including excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, popular songs of the day, and classic organ literature that highlighted the new instrument.

The Bennett Pipe Organ company, which built our instrument in 1928, went bankrupt in 1930 at the outset of the Great Depression. Thus, when issues of pipe speech and wiring required a rebuild in the early 1960s, the congregation hired Clarence Helsing, organist of Zion Lutheran Church in Rockford, Il, to rebuild the

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

4. Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church
(front window detail)

The stained-glass window above the front entrance is the largest in the church.

instrument. The contract for this repair was signed in 1962 at a cost of $12,700 (roughly $115,000 in 2020 terms). The instrument has remained tonally unchanged and has not had a major rebuild, rewiring, nor pipe cleaning since 1963. New leathering was installed on the windchests in the early 2000s.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

5. Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church
(northeast elevation)

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2021

6. Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church (southeast elevation)