OUR SAVIOR’S LUTHERAN CHURCH:
The Highest Point in Viborg, South Dakota
At the 1911 dedication of Our Sav-
ior’s Lutheran Church, a former pastor
noted: "Beautiful lies the little chur-
ch—the highest point in the city of Vi-
borg, with its spinet pointing men to-
ward heaven. And inside it is homelike
and warm, inviting the soul of man to
worship." Since that day, the welcoming
space has featured exceptional folk
carvings and pulpit, altar, and altar
paintings by master Danish immigrant
artisan, Jes Smidt (1855-1942). Smidt
became one of the most sought-after
artisans in the growing Danish immi-
grant community, and Our Savior's has
some of the best-preserved examples of
his work.
The Nordic Churches Project has
sought out churches like Our Sav-
ior’s—historic, active congregations
committed to preserving folk arts and
ethnic traditions. Lifelong member Me-
lanie Parsons was one of the church’s
leaders who participated in this project,
and recently shared her perspectives on
the experience with project manager
Laurie Sommers.
in the community for things
we were collecting. We also
had tremendous response
from people who helped or
donated. That became a
way to get everybody fired
up and to make everybody
feel like they were part of
something. We ended up
making about $2,500, but
the laughing, joking, and
comradery were priceless.
The biggest financial
success we had was the
general appeal letter that
we sent out to anyone who
had a connection to Our
Savior’s.
LS: You said previously that
the training provided by Part-
ners for Sacred Places helped
you to identify the congrega-
tion’s values and its value to
Laurie Sommers (LS): Can you speak
about what you learned about the
care of buildings and why it might be
important to preserve a church like
yours?
Melanie Parsons (MP): If you look
at a picture of our church from
1911 and one from 2019, it’s going
to be very much the same. That
brings such comfort to people, to
be able step into that building to
see that the people still care about
it, and that it’s still home. That is
such a gift that we can give.
share what those values are?
MP: We have a “can do” at-
titude. We aren’t that huge,
but you don’t have to be
huge to impact the com-
munity. You can share what
Altar and painting, “The Good Shepherd” by Jes Smidt, Our Savior’s
Lutheran Church, Viborg, South Dakota. Credit: Joshua Castaño
you have. We’re a very giv-
ing congregation. Our people are
constantly volunteering. Our value
isn’t measured by how much
money we have in our bank ac-
count. Also, we have been place-
keepers of so many of these Dan-
ish traditions. Had our church not
LS: How did you raise the required retained these old traditions, we’d
match for your restoration and repair just be another small town in the
grant? Midwest. Our new Danish folk
MP: It was wonderful. We all came
back with so much energy that it
couldn’t be overcome. We had
confidence, we had tools, we could
say why we needed to do these
things. We also were impressed by
the other groups that were there.
One member of our group said, “I
wish we would just make so much
money in our fundraiser so we
dance class is a part of that. could donate to theirs.” Because
used household goods. We found LS: What was your lasting impression jects out there that all deserve to
out there was a tremendous need of the training you attended? succeed.
MP: We did a big rummage sale of
16
the community. Can you
SACRED PLACES • SUMMER 2019
there are a lot of really good pro-