Fox River Lutheran Church History

Fox River Lutheran Church

The Oldest Norwegian Lutheran Congregation In America

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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.

Click on any of these pictures 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 long time to download from a dialup connection)

The Pastors