Church History


Formative Years

A small group of dedicated Norwegian Lutherans, worked to establish a congregation and house of worship, the Blue Earth City Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church, in 1891. The group consisted of 10 families: John Borge, Mikkel Chilson, Guttorm Engum, Absolon Erdahl, Nils Erdahl, Easton Flo, Iver Flo, Jens Mikkelson, Mikkel S. Mikkelson and Ole S. Mikkelson.
A constitution was adopted in 1891. Worship services were held and records were kept in Norwegian for thirty years. The Reverend E.K. Sandvig was called to shepherd the newly formed church.
~excerpt taken from Seasons of Grace, Trinity Lutheran Church, 1891-2016.


Prior to the acquisition of their own building,The Congregation met in the Episcopal Church. That building (pictured) is now a museum operated by the Faribault County Historical Society located at the corner of 8th and Moore Streets, in Blue Earth.

One year later, 1892, worship services were held in the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall. Church members voted to incorporate as the Blue Earth City Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church.




A search for a building site began in 1893. The search resulted in the purchase of Salem Evangelical Church (pictured). Women of the church raised money to install electricity in that building. Eight years later, the Blue Earth School bought the property on which the church stood and a search began to choose another location. A site one block south, at 235 East 7th Street, was selected and the sanctuary was moved. It served as the house of worship until 1920, when it was sold and replaced by a new edifice.


1900-1921

Pastoral Leadership

From 1900-1921, Trinity was served by four Pastors: 

O.P. Svingen (1900-1904), 

L.J. Odland ( 1904-1908), 

Edward Duea (1908-1917), 

and O.M. Benne (1918-1921).  

During this time, these leaders ushered their congregations through many changes and growth.