By Pastor Melinda VanderSys
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever.”
— Psalm 136:1
Carefully opening one of the oldest record books at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church is like opening a window into another world.
The names are familiar to many Newberry families, but the words themselves are not. Page after page is written in beautiful 19th-century Swedish and Finnish script—the languages of the immigrants who first gathered to worship as the congregations that would one day become Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.
Today, few people in our area could read every word without help. Yet those carefully handwritten pages tell the story of a people whose faith helped shape Newberry.
Those treasured record books are among the hundreds of historical documents, photographs, registers, and artifacts that members of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church have been carefully preserving as the congregation prepares to conclude its ministry. While the congregation’s final worship service will be held on Sunday, August 2, its story—and the stories of the generations who worshiped there—will continue to be preserved for those who come after us.
The roots of Our Redeemer reach back to two immigrant congregations. Around 1887, Swedish Lutheran settlers began laying the groundwork for what would become Messiah Lutheran Church. On May 29, 1888, Finnish immigrants organized Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Nearly a decade later, on May 17, 1897, Messiah Lutheran Church was formally organized. Although they developed on different timelines and worshiped in their native languages, both congregations were united by a common faith in Jesus Christ and a desire to build a community centered on God’s Word.
Life was not easy for those early settlers, but faith was at the center of their lives. They built churches where they gathered to worship, baptized their children, confirmed young people in the faith, celebrated marriages, and entrusted loved ones into God’s eternal care. They organized Sunday Schools, choirs, women’s and men’s organizations, youth ministries, and countless opportunities to serve one another and the wider community. Generation after generation learned the stories of Scripture, sang the great hymns of the faith, and discovered what it meant to follow Christ.
As Newberry changed, so did its churches. English gradually became the language of worship, while the Finnish and Swedish heritage of the congregations remained treasured parts of their identity. In 1966, Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Messiah Lutheran Church united to become Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. Worship continued in the present Messiah church building, and the Bethlehem parsonage became the pastor’s residence. The Bethlehem church building was later sold.
Together, the two congregations formed one church dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel and serving the people of Newberry.
The history of those congregations continues to live on in the church itself. When Rev. Karl Peel became Messiah’s first resident pastor in 1903, he organized the Luther League. Under his leadership, its young people raised the funds to purchase the altar that still stands at the heart of worship today—more than 120 years later. It remains a lasting reminder that each generation has helped build upon the faith of those who came before.
For the next 60 years, Our Redeemer continued that ministry with faithfulness and joy. The congregation celebrated baptisms, confirmations, weddings, anniversaries, and funerals. Children filled Sunday School classrooms and Vacation Bible School. Members cherished traditions such as the annual St. Lucia celebration, while Swedish potato sausage and Finnish cardamom bread became cherished reminders of the congregation’s rich cultural heritage. Around those tables, friendships were strengthened, stories were shared, and faith was passed from one generation to the next, even as the congregation embraced new opportunities for ministry, fellowship, and service. Quiet acts of kindness—many of them never making headlines—reflected Christ’s love in practical ways throughout the Newberry community.
Mission was woven throughout the life of Our Redeemer. Members regularly reached beyond their own congregation to support ministries serving neighbors in Newberry and people around the world. Even as the congregation faced the challenges common to many rural churches, members remained committed to sharing God’s love beyond their own walls. For more than 30 years, the congregation hosted a fundraiser for the Luce County Heating Fund, providing thousands of dollars to help local families stay warm during Upper Peninsula winters. In more recent years, a Monthly Mission Emphasis highlighted organizations such as the Good Samaritan Fund, Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp, the Mkuza Girls’ School in Tanzania, and Lutheran World Relief, reflecting the congregation’s desire to care for local neighbors, nurture young people, strengthen the wider church, and share Christ’s love around the world.
Like many congregations across rural America, Our Redeemer also experienced changing demographics and declining membership. The congregation spent years in prayerful discernment, exploring possibilities for continuing its ministry and seeking God’s guidance for the future. After much conversation, prayer, and consultation with the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the congregation voted earlier this month to conclude its ministry.
While that decision has been difficult, it is not the end of the congregation’s witness. Recognizing that God’s mission continues beyond any one congregation, members adopted a Legacy Ministry Plan that will allow Our Redeemer’s ministry to continue through gifts supporting local ministries, the Northern Great Lakes Synod, Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp, and the wider ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In its final act as a congregation, Our Redeemer chose to ensure that resources faithfully entrusted by generations of members will continue sharing Christ’s love for years to come.
The congregation has also devoted countless hours to preserving nearly 138 years of history. The handwritten Swedish and Finnish record books, historical photographs, anniversary booklets, membership records, and other treasured documents will be preserved in the ELCA Region 5 Archives at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, where they will remain available to future generations of family historians, researchers, and descendants seeking to learn more about the people who helped build this community.
Those record books preserve far more than names and dates. They tell the stories of infants brought to the baptismal font, young people confirmed in their faith, couples joined in marriage, and loved ones remembered with thanksgiving. They bear witness not only to the history of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Messiah Lutheran Church, and Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, but also to the history of Newberry itself.
As this chapter of Our Redeemer’s ministry draws to a close, the congregation warmly invites the community to gather in worship, remembrance, and thanksgiving.
On Sunday, August 2, at 9:30 a.m., Our Redeemer Lutheran Church (321 West John Street) will gather for A Service of Thanksgiving and Closure, celebrating God’s faithfulness through 138 years of ministry. All are welcome to attend this special service of worship as we give thanks for generations of faithful witness, remember the saints who have gone before us, and commend ourselves and our future into God’s loving hands.
Following the service, light refreshments will be served. Guests are invited to view a special historical display featuring photographs, artifacts, and documents from Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Messiah Lutheran Church, and Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. Whether you have been part of the congregation for decades, attended years ago, have family connections, or simply appreciate Newberry’s rich history, you are warmly invited to join us.
The story of these congregations is not ultimately about buildings or budgets or even institutions. It is the story of God’s steadfast love at work through ordinary people who answered God’s call to love and serve their neighbors.
As Our Redeemer gathers one final time as a congregation, we do so with gratitude. We give thanks not simply for what this church has accomplished, but for what God has accomplished through the lives of faithful people across 138 years.
God’s story in Newberry did not begin with Our Redeemer, and it does not end here. The God who guided Swedish and Finnish immigrants so many years ago continues to lead, to call, and to work among the people of Newberry today.
Author’s note: Historical information for this article was drawn from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church: 1888–1988, 100 Years Anniversary, including A Historical Background of Messiah Lutheran Church by Ingrid Sundstrom and A History of the Messiah Lutheran Church, based on a historical background prepared by Mrs. Clara Westin for the congregation’s 50th Anniversary. Additional information was drawn from Celebrating 125 Years in Christ, 1888–2013: Faith of Our Fathers, Living Still! My sincere thanks to those who faithfully preserved these stories and records, making it possible for future generations to remember and celebrate God’s work through these congregations.
