HISTORY OF GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH
Grace Lutheran Church was organized in 1887 as the Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, and it remained so until 1925 when the name was changed to Grace because there was also a German Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Mankato and the similar names caused confusion. In September, 1888, an organizational meeting was held and to it were invited the Belgrade Congregation from rural Mankato and the Judson group. Belgrade and Grace decided that they would unite into one parish and jointly call a pastor.
The first pastor, S.C. Franzen arrived in 1889 and the congregation grew. That same year, a lot had been purchased for $800 with the first payment of $20. A building costing about $15,000 was erected on the site, the same site on which our present church stands, except that the first building faced Main Street and our present building faces Fourth Street. It is a testimony to the pioneer families that in the midst of poor times, with a total membership of less than 100, they resolved to build for the future with a church that would be adequate for years to come.
Grace has a wonderful Swedish history, from the rural Belgrade community to the workmen who gave their own labor to dig and cut the stones that were the foundation of the original church. Swedish was the common language. In 1912, Sunday School was granted permission to use both English and Swedish in instruction, but it was not until 1914 that sermons were begun in English.
In 1930, services in Swedish were held on week nights and services in English were held on Sunday. The Belgrade church from its beginnings in 1865 was an active congregation for many years and in later years, the pastor of Grace served there, too, until in 1928, with more adequate transportation, it joined Grace. The Belgrade Luther League continued their activities with Sunday night gatherings that included the whole family until the 1970’s.
A notable pastor of Grace was Rev. O. J. Arthur. He was on the board of Gustavus Adolphus College, and led a fund drive for the college in 1921 and again in 1928. He was instrumental in getting a donation of land from the Mankato Chamber of Commerce on which the Mankato Lutheran Home was built in 1937. He served Grace from 1920 until his untimely death in 1929. He was dearly loved and became a very important member of the congregation. Many other pastors followed including Dr. Victor Beck, Dr. Paul Andreen, the Reverends G. Adolph Johns, Robert Johnson, Chan Pauling, Dr. Marbury Anderson, James Nelson and John Stiles, Art Thorstenson, Jr. and Cindi Hopp. Currently serving is Pastor Joel B. Erickson.
It is impossible in one page to chronicle the history of Grace, from its history of Synod and Church support to its missionary support, to its musical importance to the congregation and the community. One of the earliest and most important talented musicians was Elias J. Halling, who was on the faculty of Mankato State University and joined Grace in 1937. He was instrumental in the purchase of the Moller organ, rather than the electronic organ that some members preferred. That organ, in its third revision, has been enlarged so that today it has 41 ranks with a total of 2411 pipes, making it one of the most impressive organs in the southern part of the state. Mr. Halling was choir director over 37 years when he retired. His patience and determination in choral direction produced some of the finest choirs at the college and in Grace Church. He was honored by Mankato State by the naming of the recital hall in the Performance Arts Center the E.J. Halling Recital Hall.
One of Grace’s current members, Edith White, is serving with the Wycliffe Bible Translators in Togo and Benin in West Central Africa. It is a tribute to Grace’s members that in response to Edith’s concern about the horrific starvation and medical needs, the language difficulties, the need for financial help in publishing translated work--and in response to a challenge by Pastor Joel, a total of over $7,400 was raised for her use over there.
Grace is a thriving, renewing, vital congregation of over 1200 members, celebrating this year 116 years of proclaiming God’s word. Under Pastor Joel’s leadership, and a staff of wonderful dedicated people, we are looking forward to growing in the grace of God, driven by our mission statement, "Called by God's love we care, connect and serve," led by our vision statement, "The open arms of Christ embrace our world through grace."
The mosaic on the outside of the church depicts "Grace." It was made by Scuola Musaicisti-Del Friuli, Spilimbergo, Udine, Italy. Mr. Donald Gregory from Gustavus Adolphus College who prepared the painting for the mosaic writes,
"Believing it to be most suitable I chose to use as my theme the scriptural concept of grace, 'Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus'--Romans 3:24. In order to symbolize in concrete terms the intangible, abstract concept of grace, I selected as my device the Sacrament of the Altar, 'The visible form of invisible grace.'
Grace, the inexhaustible, limitless, forgiveness of God, is represented by the great hand offering the ultimate sacrifice--Christ to the world, a hand open to giving and forgiving.
The central figure symbolizing Christ, the agent of God's intentions, offers to the darkened world the glowing symbols of life. Potential streams of mystical light flood and transfigure the base materials on the altar.
The figures about the altar represent people in varying states of what is called 'The Human Condition'. People between doubt and faith, between hope and despair. From out of the distance come people, through their trials, seeking the answers that God places before them, without denial, upon the altar."