Chisago Lake Evangelical
Lutheran Church
Center City, MN 55012
651-257-6300 email
cllc@citlink.net
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Center City, MN 55012
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The first Swedes came to the Chisago Lakes region in the early 1850s. The area was thick with forests and lakes, very similar to Sweden. The Chippewa Indians called this land KichiSaga, meaning fair and lovely waters. The immigrants desire for a Lutheran church of their own became a reality on May 12, 1854, when they, with the Reverend Erland Carlsson of Chicago, organized a congregation of about 100 members. That summer they built a meeting house, which served as a public school and a church.
The first preacher and teacher was 22-year-old Eric Norelius, a student at
Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. The next spring, 1855, the first resident
pastor, Pehr Anderson Cederstam, came. The following year, 1856, a small frame
church was build on the present site. The first officially called and paid
[perhaps "salaried" rather than paid since an offering was undoubtedly taken] pastor was Carl August Hedengran, who came in 1859. FOLK ART TO BE DISPLAYED IN HERITAGE CENTER Mamie Falk would have enjoyed knowing the late Bertha Andersen. Ms. Falk, daughter of Swedish immigrants, died in her home at Benson, MN, in 1981. Both she and Bertha Andersen, rural Center City, were folk painters. In May 2009, a Sally Barott tour group visited our church. and as a symbol of their appreciation for our hospitality, left us several Mamie Falk prints. Between worship services on Sunday, September 13, two of her prints (now beautifully framed and mounted by the Historical Committee) will be on display in the Heritage Room. These prints, Services In A Dugout and Evening Services Of Long Ago, are little glimpses into life as our pioneer ancestors must have known it. Accompanying the prints is a collection of news articles, artistic reviews, and a biography of the artist printed in The Farmer, May 1980. The prints and part of the collection will be moved into the fellowship hall after the showing. Mamie Falk grew up on a farm in Swift County. She raised three children, taught music, farmed, traveled, lectured, and collected rural folk history. Several years ago she was invited to appear on Swedish Television Network with samples of her work. "The Swedes are very interested in how immigrants from that country fared in the United States," she once told an audience. Realizing that her own grandchildren no longer could experience going to winter church services wrapped in blankets and riding on a sleigh or restuffing mattresses with straw in the spring, she decided to paint those scenes. Other Falk folk paintings include Coffee Time, Threshing Beans, The Goose Dinner, Covered Wagon Trail, Evening On The Trail, The Early Merchant, Winter Time, and Pioneer Town. The prints are on display and for sale at Falk's Frame Shop in New London. The Heritage Room is open between services the second Sunday of each month. Charlotte and Ted Ruser will be your hosts.
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