The History of Fish Lake's Pastors
Part 1
1867 - 1947

by Beth Jones
Anniversary Committee Chairperson

We at Fish Lake Lutheran are so fortunate to have such a rich past and
wonderful history.  It is a history of perseverance, faith, Christian heritage and community.  As some of you may know the first 2 settlers on Fish Lake were explorers, from the Chisago Lakes area, who upon making camp one night, heard the sound of a loon.  They reasoned they were close to a lake, and the next day they found Fish Lake.  They chose land on either end of the lake and began to create a home for themselves in the wilderness. 

The Chippewa Indians roamed the area and the closest "settlement" was
Sunrise a mere  12 ¼ miles away through the woods.  (It is a 23 minute drive
by car on roads).  In 1864 more families moved into the area and settled
around Fish Lake, all of them with  tremendous faith, their mostly Southern
Swedish heritage, and their Bibles in hand.

These people started meeting for Bible study in small groups.  The groups
grew and within 7 years of the first settlers the Swedish Evangelical
Lutheran Church was organized.   When thinking about the incredible amount
of work these people did.  They cut timber, firewood, built their homes, barns, fences, took care of large families, lived off the land and walked 12 miles for supplies.  It amazes me to think they had time to build the church, but it just shows what God can do.

The pastors from the neighboring areas traveled, usually by walking, to preach to the faithful.  One of the early pastors was Jonas Magney, a
parochial school teacher and preacher, who served Cambridge Lutheran in
1864.  He was the first missionary, who walked 8 miles on a trail to preach
here.  He had family in the Chisago Lakes Area.  A Cederstram and Lundblad
were also mentioned as early preachers.

C.A. Hendren traveled here from the Chisago Lakes area, where he was Pastor. He organized the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church of Fish Lake on February 19, 1887.  At that time there were 50 members.

Jonas Auslund served from 1868-1871.  He was ordained in 1870 and was called to serve Cambridge, Rush Lake and Fish Lake.  Services were held at the School house.  Fish Lake paid 1/3 of his salary $133.33/year.  In 1871 he
moved to St. Paul, then later to Minneapolis. He died in 1878 at the age of
35.

A.F. Tornell was Pastor from 1872-1874, He served Fish Lake and Rush Lake. 
Services remained at the School house, so there was a decision to build a
church.  Construction began in April 1873. In 1874 P. Tornell moved to
Taylors Falls, where he was called by a Swedish congregation.  During this
time there were 1262 baptized members, 710 communicants.  This is when
Spring Lake split off 444 remained at Fish Lake and 266 went to Spring Lake.

Next was NJ Brink who served 1875-1887.  Pastor Brink served the Fish Lake
and the Spring Lake Lutheran churches. He was born near Amal in Dalsland. 
One of the first tasks was to revise the constitution which happened
December 23 - considering his first sermon was on 12/12.   He was the first
pastor to live in the parsonage.

In June of 1886 lightning struck the church and it was burned to the ground. 
Pastor Brink stated "The Lord gave, the Lord took away, blessed be the
name of the Lord".  What faithfulness during this time, their work a pile of
ashes in a matter of hours.  On October 2, 1886, he gathered with the
congregation to invoke a blessing on the building of a new church.  In 1886
Pastor Brink prepared a history and placed it in the corner stone of the
church .  Pastor Brink  died on April 18, 1887, of a lingering illness. 
After his death the congregation agreed to build Mrs. Brink a new house if
she stayed in the congregation.

A student by the name of CJ Bengston conducted services for several months. 
At this time Spring Lake called their own pastor.  Fish Lake issued the call
to the brother-in-law of Pastor Brink, J. Fremling.  Pastor Fremling served
1887 to 1889, when in February he was called to Vasa, Mn.  It appears P.
Fremling was fairly strict.  The annual meeting minutes reflect several
paragraphs in which "The council admonishes the congregation for parents to
assume responsibility of properly bringing up their children , and if
everyone would share their responsibilities, there would be no problem to
carry the burden."  During his service the Sexton  was issued detailed
instructions on how to ring and toll the bell; Sunday Services, Sunset on
Saturday and eves of holidays,  and upon the death of any member.    The
North Branch Congregation expressed their desire to merge with FL in
September 1888.

EG Thegerstrom served Fish Lake and North Branch from 1889-1892, when he
resigned and went to Sweden.   Pastor Thegerstrom was to be paid a yearly
stipend, plus the parsonage, free wood, and free use of the land, except for
enough for Mrs. Brinks cow and 1/3 of the hay.  North Branch paid for
services every fourth Sunday.  During May of 1890  a committee was formed to discuss a possible meeting place in Harris at a cost of $700 (This proposal
lost on a vote of 94 to 9.  It was noted that a suggestion was made that no
further consideration be given to building in Harris).  The meeting minutes
of January 1891 noted that North Branch was to contribute $25 towards
maintenance of the parsonage and some wood cutting.  In 1891, Harris
organized its own congregation.  In 1888, 50 were confirmed, 40 baptized ,
and 24 died with a member ship of 472 (765 with children). The January 1892
meeting minutes noted that Pastor Tegerstrom was unable to attend.  So a
C.U. Colliander acted as chairman.  A reminder regarding the committee
report for a monument on the Brink grave was discussed - they were to do it
soon.  The meeting minutes indicate there was a misunderstanding between the Pastor and the congregation.  From January  - March 1892, special meetings were held some of them were conducted by the Pastor.  He had evidently resigned as pastor since some of the meetings were held to call a new pastor.

The Church was without a Pastor for approximately 1 year (spring 1892-
5/1893).  During this time the church remained active and built a parsonage.

Pastor Wahlund, of Spring Lake Lutheran, assisted the congregation and held
and led 4 special meetings from May to September.  More assistance was given when on October 26, 1892, Pastor John P. Neander of Cambridge Lutheran Church submitted Pastor P.A. Philgren of Clinton Iowa as a Pastor candidate. He had served during the Christmas holidays as a student pastor.

His 27 years here, from 1893 -1920, began with 40 unanimous votes when his name was submitted.   Born in Oskarshamm, Sweden 8/8/1836,  ordained in 1874 in Rockford, Illinois.  He raised a large family, 4 children with his first
wife who passed in 1889, and 7 children with his second wife.  He was
interested in agriculture, and attended school for that prior to ministry. 
He kept cows, and horses and opened a good portion of the land for a field. 
He was well liked and respected.

In the Summer of 1897 a 30 year anniversary of the church was celebrated. 
Several of the meeting minutes during the years Philgren served, noted that
every man was to donate 2 days work:  wood cutting and fencing,  or for a
days worth of work they could donate 1 cord of firewood to the Parsonage. 
Swedish Summer schools had been  held ranging from 2-6 months long. However, For some unknown reason summer school was voted down after a heated debate.

In 1901 it was decided that the pump was not satisfactory.  The Trustees
were instructed to "drill a new well wherever they thought best and try to
obtain such water that could even be used for drinking."  1902 brought the
decision that "If you wish to tie your horses below the church, you are to
furnish your own posts 6" square and 6' long.  By 1903 it was decided that
the Trustees would install the hitching posts and the old stockade would be
repaired.

Summer school was started again in 1904.  A cemetery committee was elected consisting of 10 men (2 on each of 5 routes).  A committee was formed to
propose the size and cost of a parish hall..  By 1905 it was approved.  A
purchase of a pipe organ was discussed.  In the annual meeting minutes of
1906, the Young Peoples Society had donated the organ through efforts to the congregation.  The parish hall was built and a request was made for
volunteers to remove the mound of dirt from in front of the hall.  The
organist wages went up, but there was a need for volunteers to pump the
organ by hand..

The discussion to hold Summer School continued by 1918 it was decided it
would be held if at least 20 young folks were interested.

Many more projects were completed.  The trustees were instructed to buy
posts so the church could be fenced properly. The basement under the
parsonage, turned into a basement under the barn due to budgetary concerns.  Trees were planted around the Parish hall and the exterior of the building was painted.  A furnace was to be installed by 9/11/08.  Labor was donated to re-shingle the roof. There was discussion regarding the cracked bell, and motions made to have it replaced.  In 1917 the 50th anniversary was celebrated.

In August of 1920, Pastor Philgren resigned and moved to Minneapolis. 
Sadly, he passed after only 2 months of retirement.  He is buried in the
cemetery, and a broken monument was erected in his memory in 1924, they felt he was a pillar in the community and it is a broken pillar.

Again for almost a year the church was without a pastor.  Until pastor
Nordin was called.  It may be a record that these 2 pastors together served
a little over 54 years.

There was mention of a pastor called that received 45 unanimous votes,
however he did not accept the call.  A Vice Pastor John Hedberg was noted to
hold some special meetings and was in attendance at the annual meeting in
1921.  Voting rights to members 18 years and older was granted.  A request
was made for a better heating system.

February 3, 1921, a meeting was held to question if Fish Lake and Spring
Lake should merge under 1 parish.  In August 1921 the deacons proposed
Pastor A. Wm. Nordin.  He began in September.  In August of 1926 he was
called to serve in the Red Wing District.  The congregation urged him to
stay and raised his salary by $100.  He promised to stay and donated the
raise to pay off church debts.

Lots of changes happened during the 26 years he served, the envelope system was adopted so weekly dues could be collected, later this was changed to monthly basis.  Some members threatened to resign in 1925, and voiced disappointment with the support the members were giving.

The change from Swedish to English as the primary language, including
sermons, meeting notes and records.  The records of 1931 indicated a
question was raised regarding an English church service. By 1939 the last
meeting minutes were written in Swedish.  1944 it was decided church
services would begin at 11 am and that the service would be in Swedish once
a month.  On July 29, 1947 it was noted that under legal and proper
procedure the name of the church was officially changed from "Swedish
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Fish Lake to Fish Lake Evangelical Lutheran
Church.

More mergers with other churches were contemplated.  1927 there was a
request from Harris to merge, this lasted until 1940.  In 1945 The Calvary
Lutheran church requested a merger and it was approved by unanimous vote.  In 1947 a merger with Rush Point was rescinded, however  Fish Lake merged with Harris.

More projects were discussed and undertaken.  A new section was added to the cemetery, raising funds for P. Philgren's monument, and a program for the
unveiling.   A bid was accepted to re-stucco the parsonage.  There were
evidently problems with the heat, as it was noted the Sunday school was
moved to the parish hall on cold days.   In 1947 deacons were appointed at a
special meeting to remodel or build a new parsonage.

The first fund was set up specifically for cemetery purposes.  The cemetery
board was asked to clean up the cemetery, and received permission to cut the box elder trees between the old and new cemetery.

Pumpers for the organ were appointed in 1938 for the last year.  The pipe
organ was moved from the balcony, and since the Rural Electrification was 
passing through the county, an electric blower was installed to replace the
hand pumped bellows.

In 1942 a motion prevailed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the church. 
The board of administrators decided an anniversary book should be made and
it is noted that a very fine Diamond Jubilee Book was published.

From Fish Lake, P. Nordin served Orient, South Dakota for a short time, then
retired and moved to Minneapolis, where he passed in April of 1960.

This congregation has been blessed by the Grace of God through good times
and bad.  To put a historical perspective on the time frame, it started
while Abraham Lincoln was President, during the Civil War, included World
War I, the Depression and World War II.

I just have to think about the stamina and endurance of these people,
carving out a home in the wilderness, building homes, barns, and churches,
with only the materials and resources from the land.  They created a
community that still lives on.. But that is another story...