Freeborn Lutheran Church in Stanwood marks 111 years

Published 12:01 am Saturday, August 20, 2011

STANWOOD — When Freeborn Lutheran Church first held services in the early 1900s, some Norwegian pioneers, with children in tow, had to walk for miles to get to church.

It’s history now, but it hasn’t been forgotten.

The congregation is celebrating its 111th anniversary with special services planned on the next four Sundays.

The chapel and sanctuary where the Norwegian loggers and fishermen marked their spiritual lives is being restored to its original look, said the Rev. Don Brekhus, Freeborn pastor.

“We are trying to revive the area, reach out to the community and make this a historic place,” he said. “We want to preserve this land for the Lutheran identity.”

Workers have stripped six layers of paint to reveal the original wooden walls. Artists from the Pilchuck Glass School are making two stained glass windows for the church. The congregation’s sister church in Skagit County is providing another stained glass window.

The names of everyone who ever were baptized, confirmed, married or buried through church now decorate the worship hall, Brekhus said. The names of current members are there, too.

The congregation formed in December 1900 and settled into a small building next to a Norwegian-style longhouse that served as a meeting hall and Sunday school. The congregation outgrew the sanctuary and moved into a new worship hall in 1961. The longhouse was moved across the road on the church’s 30-acre property.

The church suffered a downturn in the 1970s, when family farmers were forced out by large farms.

When Brekhus became pastor in 2009, fewer than a dozen people were holding the church together.

“These older people were the ones who weathered all of the storms and said: ‘This is our church and we are staying here’.”

The congregation has grown since and is continuing its legacy.

Brekhus’ ancestors came to Stanwood from Norway in 1873. They were members of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Stanwood, where Brekhus later served as pastor.

“It’s amazing that I served the same church that my grandmother was baptized in,” he said.

Sandy Schreiner, who attends Freeborn, is most looking forward to the service dedicated to remembering the church’s history. It’s planned for Sunday.

“I’m just amazed at how hard people’s lives were, and they still made time to go to church,” she said.

She learned from church archives that parishioners saved for years to buy altar cloth and to paint the parsonage. It puts our hectic lifestyles in perspective, she said.

“We want everything now. If we can’t have it in two hours, forget it. And they worked for years to get things like this.”

Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452; kyefimova@heraldnet.com

Church jubilee

The church is celebrating its 111th anniversary with special services at 10 a.m. on Aug. 21, Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 11. The church is at 2304 300th St. NW, Stanwood.*

* Correction, August 22, 2011: This story originally had an incorrect address.