The Church
Fox River Lutheran Church was born in 1839, in
a two story log cabin along the banks of the Fox River, as Norwegian immigrants
were led to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ in their new homeland.
They built a church building in "The Norwegian Settlement" or
"Norway" in 1843. In 1917 this congregation merged with
another evangelical Lutheran body who had built a sanctuary 1 mile east
and 1/2 mile south of Norway in 1861. This merged church took the
name "Fox River Lutheran" in 1977.
Fox River purchased property in 2003 and began
construction of a new facility 1/4 mile east of the intersection of US
Hwy 52 and IL Hwy 71. The first service in the new building was on July
2nd, 2006. The mortgage on the new building was paid off in December of 2008!
Click on any of the pictures below to see
a larger version!
The old Fox River Lutheran Church as it appears
today.
Interior picture of the altar.
Interior of the whole Sanctuary
Fox River Lutheran Church in 1862
Interior Picture
The Hauge Lutheran Church in beautiful downtown Norway as it appeared in 1977.
Elling Eielsen
A book written about Elling Eielsen in the 1940's was recently donated to the church. It can be downloaded by clicking here. (Note: The file is extremely large (21MB) and will take a very long time to download from a dialup connection)
The Pastors
P.A. Rasmussen - Pastor from 1862 to 1880
N.J. Ellestad - Pastor form 1880 to 1883
J.A. Hellestvedt - Pastor from 1884 to 1892
N. J. Lockrem - Pastor from 1892 to 1906
F.C. Norman - Pastor from 1906 to 1910
H.G. Engum - Pastor from 1910 to 1915
A. Olson - Pastor from 1915 to 1919
N.J. Peterson Pastor from 1919 to 1923
L.L. Masted - Pastor from 1923 to 1942
A.E. Windahl - Pastor from 1942 to 1948
Benjamin Ostrem - Pastor from 1948 to 1962
O. Paul Hougen - Pastor from 1962 to 1972
James Brooks - Pastor from 1972 to 1976
William A. Ostroot - Pastor from 1976 to 1979
Maynard Halvorson - Pastor from 1977 to 1989
Mel Meyer - Pastor from 1989 to 1993
Kevin Garner - Senior Pastor from 1994 to the Present
Kirk Flaa - Intern Pastor 2006 - 2007
Steve Papillon - Associate Pastor 2008 to the Present
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