ABOVE: Immanuel Lutheran Church in Fairmont just celebrated 125 years. The current church building, which was built in 1948, can be seen on the right and the addition, which was put on as part of the 100th anniversary celebration, is on the left.

FAIRMONT– Immanuel Lutheran Church in Fairmont recently turned 125 years old on March 18. The church celebrated the big milestone on Sunday, March 20.

The large, beautiful church, located on Fairmont’s north end at 1200 N. North Avenue, actually started out in the country near Rutland township.

Pastor Wade Daul said, “Fourteen families, German immigrants, decided they wanted to have a church of their own. So in March of 1897 that’s what they did, they founded a church.”

He said within the first year they had a pastor, C.H. Hubert, and had built a church for a total cost of $1,515 on two acres of donated land.

“I joked it would take us a year just to get the permits but back then they built it themselves,” Daul said.

The site of the first church is north of the church’s cemetery though the building itself is long gone.

Daul said at one point there was talk about merging with a church in the Zion and Fraser Township but about that time the District Board of Missions urged the congregation to move into the north side of town, even though St. Paul’s Lutheran, another Missouri Synod Lutheran church, was already in town.

“In the early 40s they started to make that plan. Those were war years,” Daul explained.

A white building that used to be a chicken hatchery, which was down the road from the current church, served as the first in-town church building.

In 1946, the property the church is currently on was obtained and the foundation was dug but a government injunction said they could go no further because there was a shortness of supplies as it was post-war. Daul said two years later the original church was built.

On Oct. 10, 1948, the church building was dedicated.

“They had two services and the early morning service had over 1,000 people come and the afternoon service had almost 1,500 come to the service,” Daul said.

As part of the church’s 100th anniversary, which Daul was here for in 1997, an addition was put on the church which included Sunday school classrooms, offices and a large fellowship area in the basement. Handicap accessible bathrooms were added on every floor as well as an elevator to make the whole church handicap accessible.

“Our anniversary technically ended in March of 98′ and in May we dedicated the addition,” Daul said.

He called the addition “huge” and said it was debated for years as it was expensive.

“The amazing thing is when they built the church, they paid it off in 10 years. When we built the addition, we paid it off in eight. God’s people here have always been generous and supportive of the ministry,” Daul said.

Since then, the church has undergone a few minor cosmetic changes. Daul said when the original building was built, the stone had all been quarried and no one had considered the weather in Minnesota would cause the grouting to crumble. He said it’s been tuck-pointed a few times and the bell tower has had work done to it as well.

Daul shared some other other interesting facts about the church. He said there’s been just 17 pastors over the 125 years. One of them, A.M. Beck, served for 42 years. Daul himself will have been serving at the church for 29 years in June.

Daul said a unique part of the church is that when entering the addition, one side has a stone that says 1897 and the other says 1997. He said both those stones are from the original 1948 church building.

“When we built the addition, there was a stone laying in the alley behind the building and I was told it was the original cornerstone from the original building. So when we needed a cornerstone for this building I said why don’t we use that,” Daul said.

He said the church actually had its own school, both in the country and after moving to town. However, in the late 60s, the school closed and members began sending their students to St Paul’s Lutheran School.

When looking at groups within the church, there is an active women’s group, Women of Immanuel , which has been around for decades, as well as a men’s group. There is also a youth group in addition to Sunday school classes.

The celebration on the 20th included a special worship service. Daul said they considered it a family celebration. Pastor Dan Wurster, who served in the 80s, came back to preach at the service.

Matthew Gerhardt, a Fairmont native, returned to play the organ at the service. Daul said Gerhardt studied church work music at Concordia University and also obtained his master’s degree in music and currently works at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Des Peres, Missouri where he serves as Kanter and directs music for the church and school.

In addition to Gerhardt playing for the service, both the choir and contemporary group sang.

After the service, a turkey dinner was had and following that, Daul said there was a hymn sing where they sang about eight or nine surrounding their celebration theme, “worthy of praise,” from Psalm 145:3. After that, attendees enjoyed cake and coffee.

Daul said over 200 attended the service and another 50 or so came to the hymn sing.

For the celebration several special items were on display which included the church’s original hand sewn altar paraments and original communion ware. Several old photographs and other original items were also on display.

When asked why he thinks it’s important to recognize the anniversary and history of the church, Daul said, “the biggest reason is we are who we are because of our past and the sacrifices we’ve made. We can look back and see how God has blessed us along the way. It’s important to take the time to stop and say thank you.”