History of the Lutheran Churches in Rock Springs
[Note: the following histories are research and recorded by Trinity member and historian Betty Blackwell. Many details are based on oral accounts obtained by interviews.']
The history of the Lutheran Churches in Rock Springs typifies within one community the Lutheran bodies which were at one time, and, in some cases, continue to be state churches in the countries of northern Europe, This history is also reflective of the common trend of these churches in general within the United States, that have adhered to the European languages.
First Finish Evangelical Lutheran Church
The first church service in the Finish language in Rock Springs was held by Pastor Juho Kustaa Nikander in 1889 on the second floor of a large building on South Front Street. The building , now occupied by Fountain Club was, at that time, the only structure in the community large enough for such a gathering. Pastor Nikander was on a return trip from San Francisco where he had established the first Finnish Seamen's Mission in this country. He had immigrated from Finland only four years prior. The outcome of this first service was the establishment of "Walon Lahte, " a temperance society.
On August 26, 1890 the First Finish Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed,
fourteen years after the first such congregation in this country. The local church was incorporated under the laws of the State of Wyoming on February 4, 1892. Pastor Henrik Tanner of the Black Hills officiated at the first service and continued to serve this congregation on a monthly basis while also serving Almy and the town of Carbon, He moved to Rock Springs in l893.
Following his vis it to Rock Springs in 1889, Pastor Nikander organized the Suomi Synod organization of Finnish churches, and later the Suomi College. The Rock Springs congregation joined this synod on June 6, l892. The year 1892 also saw the congregation reach its maximum membership of 303 men, 44 women and 28 children. Although the number of men far exceeded the number of women in general in Wyoming in the early days, and especially so in the mining camps, the proportion in this church body was even more remarkable.
The first church building was by purchase of the old county schoolhouse shortly after organization. The second building was acquired by purchase of property facing B Street and the frame building known as the Old Union Congregational Church as shown in a deed dated March 2, 1898.This location became the site of what is now the Rock Springs Junior High School. Construction of the present building at 90 Second Street was in 1913 and 1914 by Rock Springs Lumber Company, on a lot purchased from Mrs. Ida Snith. This property was transferred to the Rocky Mountain Synod of the Lutheran Church in America in 1968.
The local church was formed: to perpetuate worship services and Christian education in the mother tongue; but, like other such congregations, the succeeding generations in a homogenized community grew farther and farther from the language of the Finnish homeland. By 1931 the congregation had seen its last resident pastor and was served on a mission basis until 1938 after which services became even more irregular. No Finnish services have been held for several years.
(The kindness of S. W. Asiala in research and the authoritative history written in 191 by the late John Alfred Kiviaho, assistant Postmaster in Rock Springs for many years, made possible the above account of this early church in the community.)
Second Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church
A second Finish Lutheran church as organized in Rock Springs in about 1898. At the time this article is prepared records of this church are not available and recollection of former members is the basis of this history. Membership in the early congregation was partly from the original membership of the pioneer First Finnish Church. This congregation grew to approximately 120 members in years that followed, according to local former members.
A church was built on M Street with a parsonage at the rear of the property. Both worship services and Sunday School classes were held in the Finnish language. As the number of original immigrants declined, the membership gradually reduced. After a period of years without a resident pastor, the church building as razed in 1948.
(This information was furnished by Ingrid Sturholm and her father, Gust Stwholn, from interviews with former church members.)
Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rock Springs cane into its formal beginning with the organizational meeting on January 25, 1903, to provide church services in the mother tongue and to give Christian instruction to Swedish and Norwegian members of the community. Church records, however, suggest that this area Was served, perhaps on an irregular basis, as early as 1890 by a circuit pastor.
Rev, F. W. Bergquist was the first official pastor of this parish, serving as later pastors did, at monthly intervals, from a regular parish at Laramie or Cheyenne. Worship services were first held at the Finnish Lutheran Church on M Street, and later at the Finnish Lutheran Church on Second Street.
Initial membership of this congregation was 11 families, and most of these were immigrants from the Scandinavian countries who came to Rock Springs to work in the coal mines or allied industries. The ladies of this church organized a "Scandinavian Syforeningen” (sewing society) also in 1903, and Sunday School classes were taught in the Swedish language for many years.
The congregation had grown to approximately 30 families and remained active as an affiliate of the Augustana Synod of the Lutheran Church as late as 1935 when a new generation of predominately American-born children found the services of English-speaking congregations more suitable to their religious needs. A circuit pastor continued with irregular visits for sone years after 1935.
(The information regarding this church was provided through the kindness of Mrs. Wilda Pryde whose father, Emil Bergquist, helped organize the church,)
Trinity Lutheran Church
By 1940, with the decline of earlier Lutheran churches in the community due to new generations desiring to worship in the English language, there was no Lutheran church providing regular and frequent services . A missionary, Rev. John Lutze, was sent by the Southern Nebraska district of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, to begin a Lutheran mission in Rock Springs, In the first month, August, l940, services were held in private homes during the middle of each week.
The first Sunday morning service given in the English language was held on September 6, 1940. By October 2th a Sunday School had been organized and worship services, as well as Sunday School, were conducted in the auditorium of the Elks Home. Trinity Lutheran Ladies Aid was also organized in this year.
In early 1949 services were shifted from the Elks Home to the First Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church on Second Street. Property had by this time been purchased for a permanent church site, during the ministry of Rev. E. O. Luessenhop. In August, 1950, a contract for construction at the present site on Ninth and Pearl Streets was awarded to H. C. Kerback and on February 4, 1951, the new structure was dedicated. Pastor William E. Fischer was serving this congregation in 1951, and on June 10th the first confirmation class as presented for membership.
Rev. G. Daniel Schmidt was ordained and installed into the ministry at Trinity Lutheran Church on July 20, 1954. The present parsonage was completed in September of the following year. Under the leadership of Pastor David Kreitzer, the new parish hall and educational unit were completed, and dedication of this expansion was held on March 5, l961.
In these years of the congregation's growth, an increasing number of Lutherans who lived in Green River were becoming members of Trinity, since there was no Lutheran church in the home city. During the ministry of Pastor Robert E. Tewes, these members were transferred to their newly established home congregation and church building of Emmanuel, in Green River in 1965.
Trinity Lutheran's present pastor, Rev. Jack D. Heck, Was installed on April 17, 1966. The installation was performed by Dr. H. Krohn of Sidney, Nebraska. Despite Dr. Krohn's age in the high 70's and a professed “retirement” from active ministry, he had served Trinity in the preceding period of pastoral vacancy and continues to serve energetically in this capacity in like situations elsewhere in Wyoming end Nebraska.
During the ministry of Pastor Heck losses in membership through creation of the sister congregation in Green River, have been essentially overcome in the numerical and spiritual growth of the present congregation. Within the present membership there are yet members who saw the beginning of their Christian education and worship in each of the three earlier Lutheran churches of the mother tongues.
(Trinity Lutheran Church history and related histories of three previous Lutheran Churches was compiled by C. E. Sorensen)
HISTORY OF TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
[Note: the following history is written by Trinity member and historian Betty Blackwell]
Our congregation is certainly not the first Lutheran parish in Rock Springs: it was pre-dated by the First Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church (1890) and the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church (1903). These churches provided opportunities for religious worship and instruction in the Finnish and Swedish mother tongues to coal miners and their families. The family balance of early years is shown rather starkly by the maximum membership of First Finnish in 1892: 303 men, 44 women and 28 children! Second Finnish grew to a membership of 120, and Scandinavian’s maximum appears to have been 30 families. The population of Rock Springs in 1900 was 4,363 and in Sweetwater County 8,455. There were approximately 600 members in the three Lutheran congregations at that time. These churches suffered a common fate, when by the 1930's the new generation of predominately American-born children found the services of English-speaking congregations more suitable to their religious needs, and services by resident pastors gradually became a thing of the past. The church building built in 1913-14 by First Finnish at 90 Second Street is the only church edifice remaining of these earlier years. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod began missionary work in the Rock Springs area when the Rev. Paul G. Hansen from Ogden, Utah did some canvas work in early 1940 and began conducting biweekly services. In 1940 there wasn't an active Lutheran congregation in what is now the Rawlins Circuit. Forty-five years later there were eleven Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregations served by nine pastors.
In August 1940, the Rev. John Lutze was sent by the Southern Nebraska District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to establish an English-speaking Lutheran mission in Rock Springs, with first services held in private homes during the middle of the week. Rev. Lutze at the same time served Evanston, Kemmerer and Rawlins. The first Sunday morning worship service was held September 6, and a Sunday school had been organized by October 20. The year 1940 also saw the organization of Trinity Ladies Aid.
Public Worship services and Sunday school were first held in the auditorium of the Elks Home, moving to First Finnish Lutheran Church in early 1949, during the ministry of the Rev. E.O. Luessenhop, who in June accepted a call to Wichita, Kansas. The church building fund began during his ministry included the gift of $1000.00 by the Finnish Church.
During the vacancy, served by the Rev. Woodrow Kurth of Rawlins, Trinity Lutheran Church was incorporated under the laws of the state of Wyoming on February 11, 1950. On June 19 of that same year, the contract for construction of our house of worship and social annex by H.C. Kerback was signed. It is believed that Rev. Kurth and his father built our present altar, pulpit and lectern. Construction of the building was completed and dedicated on February 4, 1951, during the pastorate of the Rev. William Fischer. On June 10, 1951 the first confirmation class was accepted into communicant membership.
Candidate G. Daniel Schmidt was ordained into the ministry and installed as our pastor on July 20, 1954, and his leadership brought about the purchase of land in Green River by the Mission Board of the Southern Nebraska District for a future church. In May 1955, our congregation contracted with the John North Lumberyard for construction of a parsonage which was dedicated October of that year. Our new Allen electric organ was donated by the Ladies Aid and dedicated Feb. 8, 1958.
The Rev. David Kreitzer was installed as Trinity's pastor in Apil 1958. Keenly aware of the construction project beginning at the site of Flaming Gorge Dam, he convinced the Mission Board of the Southern Nebraska District of the need for a temporary facility at Dutch John in which to hold worship services. The trailer chapel was purchased by the district and dedicated as a house of worship on February 8, 1959. God's Word was preached in this chapel for the 5-year period of the construction and has since filled similar needs elsewhere in the district.
Our own growing Sunday school was finding the one-room social unit too small for our needs. With freestanding blackboards being the only division between three or four classes, it was most difficult to teach or learn. The congregation voted for expansion, and a new parish hall and education unit was begun in July 1960 with Superior Lumber Company as the builder. It was dedicated on March 5, 1961. Speakers for the occasion were the Rev. Henry W. Nieman, President of the Southern Nebraska District, and the Rev. Waldo J. Werning, Counselor in Missions and Stewardship for the District. Contributions of members and an additional loan of $35,000 from the Church Extension Fund of the Southern Nebraska District made possible this expansion of our church facility.
Pastor Kreitzer was called to San Lorenzo, California in January 1962. Candidate Robert E. Tewes was ordained and installed as our pastor on July 14, 1962. During his pastorate the plans for formation of a sister congregation, Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church of Green River, came to fruition with groundbreaking ceremonies held on August 2, 1964. End-of-year statistics for 1963 showing 337 baptized members compared with 1965 showing 245, (a loss of 92) provide a general picture of approximate transfers of membership to Emmanuel.
The vacancy following Pastor Tewes' call to Lincoln, Nebraska in October 1965 differed from previous pastoral assistance from neighboring congregations. The Rev. Dr. Henry Krohn, a retired (only physically) pastor, made weekly trips from Sidney, Nebraska via the Union Pacific railway; with our Sunday worship service as the final official act of each week's visit.
The Rev. Jack D. Heck was installed as Trinity's resident pastor on April 17, 1966. His former congregation was in Cambridge, Nebraska. His pastorate was marked by the congregation's spiritual growth contrasted by a decline in baptized members with little loss in the number of communicant members. He was called to Grand Island, Nebraska on June 28, 1970. The Frances Lillehaug Memorial Scholarship fund was established during his pastorate.
The Rev. Allen P. Maleske from Los Angeles, California was installed September 6, 1970 following the vacancy served by the Rev. Arthur Siegfried of Christ Lutheran Church in Rawlins. Our chapter of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League hosted the Wyoming District Convention at Rock Springs on May 6, 1972 with Hazel Bersche serving as convention chairman. Fifty congregations of our Synod were represented. The 19th century oil painting of the Ascension of Jesus Christ was a gift to the church by Walfred and Mary Asiala, former members of the old Finnish Lutheran Church. It was dedicated on June 3, 1973. The year 1974 saw the formation of a congregation of the Lutheran Church in America Synod in Rock Springs, and for the first time in forty years there were two Lutheran churches in Rock Springs.
Rev. Maleske's acceptance of a call to London, Ontario in January 1975 left a pastoral vacancy again ably served by Rev. Siegfried of Rawlins. The congregation's 25th anniversary, so early in this period of vacancy, was deferred with official observance of the event on May 18th. The Rev. Henry Niermann, President of the new Wyoming District, was speaker for the morning service with Rev. Siegfried as the liturgist. In the afternoon service the speaker was Dr. Jacob A.O. Preus, President of our Synod, with the liturgy read by the Rev. Jack D. Heck.
The vacancy terminated September 28, 1975 with the installation of the Rev. John Johansen from Staplehurst, Nebraska. Full repayment of Trinity's loan from the Wyoming District Church Extension Fund was observed in a note-burning ceremony during our mission festival observance on October 24, 1976. Speaker for the service was our first pastor, Rev. Lutze from Trinity, Casper.
At a special voter's meeting held March 20, 1980 a motion was approved by a vote of 10 to 3 to purchase land on College Hill for a future church site. Congregation members were obligated to invest in Lutheran Church Extension Fund notes to at least one-third of the 115.000 purchase price loaned us by LCEF.
On February 11, 1990, Trinity Lutheran celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its incorporation on February 11, 1950. Guest pastors were the Rev. G. Daniel Schmidt from Longmont, Colorado (July 1954 to December 1957) who preached at the morning service; Dr. Wilbert J. Sohns, President of the Wyoming District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, preached at the afternoon service; the Rev. Jack D. Heck from Ogden, Utah (April 1966 to June 1970) served as lector for the morning service and liturgist for the afternoon service. 220 attended the morning service.
Rev. John Johansen retired September 30, 1993. He had served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church for eighteen years at the time of his retirement.
After a four-month vacancy, served by the Rev. Philip Wolf of Green River, Candidate James L. Hennig was ordained and installed on January 9, 1994 as the congregation's eighth pastor. In 1995a pre-school was begun with two classes for 4 and 5 year olds and one class for 3 year olds. The pre-school has been taught by Donna Eusek with Tracy Maes serving as teacher's aide since its opening. The two and one half-acre college hill property across from the hospital was sold in 1997 and an eight-acre parcel on the north side of I-80 was purchased as a future church site. Rev. James L. Hennig accepted a call to St. Peter Lutheran Church in Prairietown, Illinois in November 1997.
Rev. John Johansen served as interim pastor for eight months. Vicar Daniel Holthus came in July of 1998 and served his vicarage at Trinity Lutheran Church and then was ordained and installed as pastor on July 11, 1999.
