FEATURE STORY: THE NORDIC CHURCHES PROJECT
Preserving Nordic Heritage Churches
in the Midwest
By Emily Sajdak
Project Manager, Partners for Sacred Places
T
rinity Lutheran Church sits just off the main highway in
Brevort on the southern shore of Michigan’s Upper Pen-
insula. This white clapboard church was founded by
immigrants from the Åland Islands, a Swedish-speaking region of
Finland. Its history is hinted at by an unassuming pole in the
middle of the field next door. This is the “Midsummer Pole,”
which serves as the focus of an annual Swedish tradition that cele-
brates the summer solstice. At Trinity, the festival is celebrated by
decorating and raising the Midsummer Pole, singing a song in
Swedish, and eating Swedish meatballs and rye bread among other
foods and treats.
Trinity is one example of a Nordic heritage church partici-
pating in Partners’ Preserving Nordic American Churches Project
(Nordic Churches Project). Thanks to the support of the Margaret
A. Cargill Philanthropies, this project is generating the first broad
inventory of Nordic American churches in the Upper Midwest
and is seeking to lift the profile of Nordic cultural heritage in
North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. These churches have much to say
about the cultural roots—and decorative arts—of 19 th and early-
20 th century immigrants from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland,
and Denmark.
The project has also worked closely with 17 Nordic American
churches in the region, to increase their capacity and help them repair
and restore their buildings and decorative arts. Each congregation or
nonprofit owner participated in training led by Partners that was
offered in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin and Sioux City, Iowa last year, and
was eligible for a matching grant to complete a small capital project.
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SACRED PLACES • SUMMER 2019
Trinity Lutheran Church
and Midsummer Pole,
Brevort, Michigan.
Credit: Laurie Sommers
Trinity Lutheran chose to fundraise toward restoration of its
historic altar painting—created by Olof Grafström, a well-known
Swedish immigrant artist. “It has been a dream of ours for years
and years to have the painting restored,” says Pega Kennedy, a
member of Trinity Lutheran’s congregation. The congregation
has recently completed its fundraising efforts and is preparing to
send the painting to Detroit for restoration. “The response has
been overwhelming…we did a bake sale and a letter [campaign]”
to raise the funds. “We have received over $10,000, which is so
amazing,” notes Kennedy.
Not all participating churches in the Nordic Churches Project
are operated by active congregations. The Valley Grove Preserva-
tion Society (VGPS) maintains and operates two historic churches
in Nerstrand, Minnesota that were established in the mid- to late-
19 th century by Norwegian settlers to the area. The stone church
on site was built in the 1860s to serve as a place of worship and
gathering for local farm families. By the mid-1890s, the congre-
gation had outgrown the stone church and built a wooden church,
which served the Norwegian-American community until the mid-
20 th century.
Gary Wagenbach, President of VGPS, cites participation in
the Nordic Churches Project as a driving force behind the board’s
capacity to undertake their capital project to restore and re-create
historic light fixtures in the stone church. Relationships are build-
ing. “The preservation society is recognizing that there is capacity
in the partnership and training resources that have been pro-
vided…. I’m excited going forward to continue to address needs
and opportunities, both the stone church in the short term and