Sunday, August 30, 2009

An Old Church

There was an old church in our local town, it was built in 1887. It was a Baptist Church, what I recall about those Baptists is that they sang great songs and they went down to the lake every spring and baptized their members in the lake.. yup..totally immersed them in the water.. sprinkling a little water wasn't good enough..you had to be dunked. Being Lutheran, I always thought that our music was fairly dull and we could take a lesson or two from the Baptists. Anyway..the old church was old..it made it past the 100 year celebration..I think it got a new coat of paint that year. Then there were rumors of building a new church. The old church ended up at The Lake Itasca Pioneer Farmers Grounds.

I was anxious to see it, it has been resided and perhaps even re shingled..it looks great. The steeple seemed taller and more massive than I remember. It may not see a congregation every Sunday, but it is preserved as a reminder of days past.

I couldn't help but think about my father in law. You see the church had a small entry a long time ago, lots of churches up here in Minnesota had them, it helped to keep out the cold wind in the winter, but it was also a perfect area to fill with pumpkins at Halloween. Yes sir, he was part of the very wild bunch that stole pumpkins and carted them over to the church filling up the entryway. I believe they also filled the outhouse with pumpkins...country kids..raising havoc in town:)

10 comments:

Nancy said...

My nephew and his family live fairly close to Lake Itasha. I'll have to ask him if he has seen this church.

Yep, Lutheran hymns can be pretty staid. I can't even imagine anyone in my congregation lifting their arms in praise during a hymn. Yep, we are a pretty subdued bunch.

Anonymous said...

Pretty little church Connie. As a southern girl who grew up knowing about only 2 religions, Methodist and Baptist, I appreciate your enthusiasm for the Baptist songs! Nalley grew up Catholic in Michigan (his oldest brother is a priest) and had no knowledge of the Baptists! That's a cute story about the pumpkins. I enjoyed the story and the picture.

Maery Rose said...

I love old churches. They just don't make them like that anymore.

Pamela said...

I'm smiling. great post.

Anonymous said...

Pumpkins in the outhouse! I like that...

And what a lovely looking church. I like the window photo a lot!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful old church. THere is just something about a small town church. Thanks for sharing.

DayPhoto said...

Beautiful! I'm reading a book about your area, this was perfect for my mind's eye.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

lilly said...

This church remminds me of the Quaker Church we attended when we were growing up. So many wonderfu hymns were sung and learned at this place of worship and in later years I was able to play them on the piano at junior worship service. So many memories you always seem to open up for all of us. lilly

L. D. said...

The steeple seems unusually wide on this church, or the church is narrow. It is funny how you have to look twice sometimes to see if you are looking at a church or a school. They are sometimes very much the same. I took a lot of shots of church buildings in Maine, some have become homes.

Emma Rose said...

I love old churches. I've never heard of the pumpkin thing before. The Duke was raised a country boy and he did his fair share of "cow-tipping". Shame!
Great photos!

The Duchess