Covenant News

Swedeburg Church to Mark 125th Anniversary on Sunday

WAHOO, NE (August 15, 2001) - Swedeburg Covenant Church will celebrate its 125th anniversary on Sunday (August 19) with Midwest Conference Supt. Kenneth P. Carlson preaching at the morning worship service. A community barbecue will follow in the afternoon.

Wahoo is a community of 3,000 located 40 miles west of Omaha and about 25 miles north of Lincoln. Originally a farming community, many work in two larger nearby cities and a highway is being built that will make the town even more accessible to Lincoln.

Pastor Richard Olson has already seen how the growth of the town is affecting his church. He hopes the anniversary celebration will give his church of 40 attendees more visibility to the community.

"Wahoo is a growing city and it's moving out south - there are a lot of homes being developed," said Olson, who will celebrate his fifth year at the church in October. "We're reaching out. We've had a float at the Saunders County Parade, we had a booth at the fair and we're having a free barbecue for the community this Sunday. About 18 months ago we had eight new members added to the church. The idea of reaching out has kind of taken off (in the congregation). I'm really pleased with that."

Swedeburg Covenant was originally named Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Church, Fridhem (House of Peace). The church was officially organized August 30, 1876, at the farm of John Martinson with 53 charter members, according to church records. Many of those members withdrew from the community's Lutheran church (Augustana Synod), founded in 1870.

Swedeburg Covenant's first church was built in 1877 at a cost of $1,000. A year later, pastor Andre Hallner helped organize the church and remained there for two years before moving to Chicago. He worked with the Mission Synod as secretary, as editor of a church newspaper and as a pastor. After moving back to Swedeburg in 1881, he went to Chicago, Illinois, and represented the Swedeburg congregation in 1885 at the first annual meeting of the Mission Covenant, now the Evangelical Covenant Church. He later served on the Constitution Committee.

It wasn't easy for Swedeburg Covenant early in its existence as lightning struck and burned the church in 1896. A new church was built on the same land not long after, and in 1909 a new facility was constructed in the downtown area of Swedeburg. That building is still being used today, although the town is no longer incorporated.

Swedeburg Covenant has been known in the denomination for its service, both locally and globally. In the church's 100th anniversary records, it is noted that full-time missionaries from within the congregation included Rev. and Mrs. C.J. Nelson (China) and Alpha Almquist Anderson and Dr. Arden Almquist (Congo). A handful of other children from the church eventually served in Covenant ministry, including C. J. Youngren, Edmund Carlson, Ernest Anderson and Lyle Person, who now pastors nearby at Evangelical Covenant Church of Mead, Nebraska. Recently, Brian Carlson served as a short-term missionary in Thailand.

Concurrent with the revitalization of the community is the church's own revitalization, both inside and out. New siding has been installed, new carpeting has been laid and a handicapped accessible walk-in basement is now in place. Olson, who came to pastoral ministry late in life, has seen how the church has been energized by the recent developments. He is also encouraged that older members of the congregation have embraced some of the changes.

"I enjoy working with people and seeing lives changed," said Olson, who was a chemist for the Food and Drug Administration in Kansas City, Kansas, for 30 years while attending Hillcrest Covenant Church in Prairie Village, Kansas. "It's been very meaningful for me and it's been a blessing."

For more information about the upcoming celebration service and afternoon barbecue at Swedeburg Covenant, call Olson at 402-443-5443.

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