A Little History of
Trinity Lutheran Church
Carver, MN

Carver on the Western Frontier

Trinity Lutheran Church was founded in 1866. Consider what was going on when Carver was right on the Western frontier of the United States with all the excitement, but also all the dangers that went with that status.

In 1866, the American Civil War (1861-1865) had just ended. Pres. Lincoln had just been assassinated (1865). And Minnesota had first been established in 1858 as the 32^nd state of the Union. Despite of this, Minnesota contributed about 22.000 men to the northern Union’s war effort against the southern Confederate States of America. In fact, Minnesota was the first Union state to commit troops. They fought with distinction, especially in the 1863 battle of Gettysburg, PA, the bloodiest of all Civil War battles (a total of 8,000 fallen; 27,000 wounded; 12,000 captured/missing in three days of battle). One Minnesota regiment lost 215 of its 262 men, the most casualties of any surviving regiment in US Army history.

While the volunteer troops were thus fighting out East, the situation at home was not very peaceful either. Minnesota, after all, was still the western American frontier in the 1860s. In 1862, the Sioux (Dakota) had begun to attack white settlers. How did this come about? In 1851, the Minnesota Sioux had signed the Treaties of Traverse des Sioux and of Mendota in which they sold about 24 million acres of land to the federal government for about $3 million[1] and the promise to provide supplies for the tribes living on newly-established reservations along the Minnesota River which were about 1.9 million acres in size. The former Indian land was opened to white settlement in 1854. In 1858, the half of the reservation that was located to the north of the river was lost after negotiations in Washington, reducing the tribes’ land to 950.000 acres with whites settling across the river. The conditions on the remainder of the reservation in the river basin were not favorable for farming; the traditional Indian way of life was already impossible on a reservation this size. Besides, because of the war in the East the government had not made any payments; food was also in short supply in the Indian agencies on the reservations. And then there was of course the long history of broken treaties between the US government and the Indians …

All this made the tensions between whites and Indians rise in the summer of 1862. Hostilities broke out in August 1862 when a small group of Indians, without being provoked, attacked and killed five white settlers in Meeker County. Many more such random killings of farmers followed, which caused a panic among the settlers who tried to defend themselves or leave the danger zone with their few belongings. Some even found refuge in Carver. The troop strength in Minnesota at first was no match for the Sioux; reinforcements needed to be found on the Eastern fronts; that took time. But finally, after a number of skirmishes and battles with the US Army (mostly north and south of the Minnesota between New Ulm and Granite Falls), the Sioux were defeated. Some of them captured in September 1862, others escaped north and west. Between 150 and 800 whites (soldiers and civilians) had been killed within about a month of hostilities. The number of killed Sioux is not known.

In the ensuing military trial in Mankato, over 300 captive Indians were sentenced to death by hanging. In the midst of the Civil War, President A. Lincoln took the time to review these sentences and, because most of the trials were lacking the basic requirements of justice (no sure identification of the individual Indians, no defenders), pardoned all but 39 Sioux. They were executed on the day after Christmas in Mankato, which to this day remains the largest mass-execution in American history. Lincoln’s clemency almost cost him the state in the presidential elections of 1864.

While most of the events of the Sioux Uprising of 1862 took place to the southwest of Carver, they do indicate that Carver was very much on the violent frontier when Trinity Lutheran Church was established in 1866, only eight years after Minnesota had become a state of the United States of America. We can easily forget that today, when wars and hardships typically happen elsewhere, affecting other people instead of us personally.

Carver, Minnesota

By 1866, when Trinity was officially established as a congregation, there had been white settlers in the Carver area for about 14 years: It was in 1852 that Axel Jorgensen first claimed a piece of land in the area. He was followed by John Goodenough. Both men moved on and sold their land to a development company in St. Paul. L. H. Griffin and J. E. Fullerton purchased the Jorgensen claim in 1854 and planned to divide the land into lots to then sell it. Griffin moved to Carver and established a hotel and general store. The first township meeting was held at Griffin’s hotel in 1855. Two years later, the village area was surveyed and platted. In 1877 it was incorporated as the Village of Carver. Street names in Carver – Jorgensen, Fullerton, Griffin – remind us of those earliest pioneers. And Carver itself is named for British explorer, Jonathan Carver, who in 1766 traveled through the area on the Minnesota River, which was then called the St. Pierre by the French Voyageurs who were roaming all of what later became Minnesota as trappers and fur traders. J. Carver himself named Carver Creek after himself.

At its early economic peak, there was a thriving business district in Carver: There were a major wheat shipping center (present Carver Depot); several general stores; a hotel; a blacksmith; shoe repair; barbershops; livery stables; restaurants; and two banks. Carver had its own newspaper, The Carver Free Press. A library was established in 1866 for “the promotion of knowledge and morality.”

Carver was important for the settlement of what later became Carver County, because Carver was as far as steamboats could go on the Minnesota before running into waterfalls. Carver therefore benefited from being the place where many new settlers disembarked: these new arrivals needed all the supplies necessary for venturing into the virgin woods surrounding Carver to make good farmland out of them.

Lutherans in America and in Minnesota

After North Dakota, Minnesota is the state with the second largest percentage of Lutherans in its population, 33.9%. The US average is about 10% (Germany’s is about 30%; Sweden and Norway have a population that is about 90% Lutheran). Why are there so many Lutherans in Minnesota? The answer is simple: because so many Lutherans came to Minnesota from Germany and Scandinavia. While most have given up their native languages, many still hold to the “faith of the fathers” – obviously to varying degrees.

In the 1850s, when the settlement of most of Minnesota began after the 1851 treaties with the Sioux, people typically organized their congregations according to what people believed (Lutheran, Reformed, Catholic), but also according to where they came from and what language they spoke. You had German Lutheran churches like Trinity, Norwegian Lutheran churches, Danish Lutheran churches, and so forth. In fact, the (Upper) Midwest was soon dominated by the large groups of new immigrants from northern Europe that arrived here in the second half of the 19^th century; most of them happened to be Lutherans.

This, by the way, goes to show that when immigrant groups today establish new congregations according to their languages, then there is nothing wrong with that. That’s how it was done in the 19^th century too. Maybe today we talk about a Somali Lutheran church or a Hmong Lutheran church. So long as we are divided by language only (and not also by what we believe and teach), we can safely recognize them as fellow Lutherans.

In the second half of the 19^th century, though, the meaning of the term “Lutheran” became a bit more complicated in America; and it has been ever since. It was no longer enough to speak of “Lutherans” in general and then simply add “German,” “Norwegian,” or “Swedish” to it to describe a congregation sufficiently well. Because of important theological developments in Europe, which affected later waves of immigrants, it was now also important to say whether a congregation was “old Lutheran” or whether it was “new / American Lutheran.” In comparison to this emerging theological difference in Lutheranism, the old distinctions among Lutherans between “German,” “Norwegian” and “Swedish” became unimportant.

To understand what this new distinction means, we have to go back a bit in European history. Luther started the reformation of the Christian Church around 1520. By 1600 Lutheranism was firmly established in much of northern Europe (northern Germany and Scandinavia). Around 1700, however, new movements began to eat away at traditional Lutheranism in those countries both inside and outside the church. By 1800 there was therefore not much of the old substance left. People had compromised the old faith in many and various ways, when in 1817, on the 300^th anniversary of Luther’s 95 Theses, a German pastor sounded the call back to the original, Scripture-based Christianity that Luther himself had taught. This movement, a kind of “Lutheran revival,” led some Lutherans in Germany to speak up for the old faith. This was not welcomed by many in the church and in society at large: Simply repeating the old beliefs taught in the Small Catechism? That didn’t make sense to many, if not most. “So much has happened in the 300 years since,” they said. “We have to go with the times and change to reach people for Jesus!”

Beginning around 1600, various groups of Lutherans began to immigrate to America. Quite naturally, they brought the kind of Lutheranism along they were accustomed to from home. The earliest folks brought a fairly sound Lutheranism, but soon disappeared because they were small in number. Later generations, however, were not as sound anymore. They were more ready to compromise at the expense of original Lutheranism with what others had to say. Around the middle of the 19^th century the tides turned again when a small group of Lutherans from Saxony came to the St. Louis, MO area in 1839. These Lutherans, unlike most of their predecessors, were very much committed to the teachings and practices of the original Lutherans. One of their leaders was a young pastor by the name of Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther who would later become the first president of the Missouri Synod (established in 1846). Other small groups of conservative Lutherans came from Germany and Scandinavia at about the same time and associated with the early Missourians in one way or another. This new element – “old Lutheranism” – caused quite a stir in America and in Europe.

This is how it came about that, ever since the second half of the 19^th century, different kinds of “Lutheranism” exist in America. They are not really a matter of what language a person’s ancestors spoke 150 years ago, or what skin color a person has, but of what a person and a church believes and teaches. To this day, there are basically two types of Lutheranism around. One is the conservative kind – the “old Lutherans” – which you find mostly in the Missouri Synod, in the Wisconsin Synod, and in the Evangelical Lutheran (Norwegian) Synod. The liberal kind – the “new / American Lutherans” – is represented by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. While there were serious differences in the faith between “old” and “new” in 1866, these differences, sadly, have now only grown deeper. And they have even worked their way into our dear Missouri Synod. This is part of the confusing context in which we at Trinity Lutheran seek to remain unapologetically faithful Lutherans in the year 2006, 140 years later, by making disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Holy Trinity and teaching them all the Lord’s biblical teachings.

Trinity Lutheran Church, Carver, MN

As mentioned earlier, there were many Lutherans among the first immigrants to the Minnesota Territory beginning in the 1850s. Most of these settlers probably came directly from Europe. But there were those who had already settled in, say, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, or Wisconsin and who, for various reasons, decided to move westward still.[2]

These Lutheran Carver settlers who had already been in the US for some time included folks formerly affiliated with organized member congregations of the Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherische Synode von Missouri, Ohio und anderen Staaten, that is, the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States – the Missouri Synod, as it is known. The Minnesota Territory became part of the Synod’s Northern District, and in 1856 it was decided to explore mission opportunities in Minnesota. The Northern District’s president appointed Rev. F. Sievers of Frankenlust and Amelith in Michigan to travel through Minnesota in search of settlers that would be willing to be serious Lutherans. In August/September 1856 Rev. Sievers traveled in Minnesota and, having found some families truly interested in Lutheranism, established the first Minnesota congregation of the Missouri Synod in 1856; it is today known as Trinity First Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. Sievers then traveled up the Minnesota to Shakopee and then through Chaska on to Henderson where he conducted services at a German settlement outside of town. St. John’s Lutheran Church, Arlington, resulted from these efforts: it was established in 1859.

After Sievers’ exploration tour, the Missouri Synod sent a missionary into our area, Rev. F. Kahmeyer who had been ordained in 1857 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Coopers Grove (now: Country Club Hills), IL, about 20 miles southwest of Chicago, from where many early Carver Lutherans hailed. Rev. Kahmeyer established Zion Lutheran Church in Benton Township, our neighbors to the west, in 1857. Since Carver was the closest post office, Kahmeyer soon learned that there were those interested in serious Lutheranism also in this newly established settlement. Kahmeyer served these Lutheran families in their homes, a favorite preaching place being the farm of Michael Preiss along what is now US Hwy 212; on Preiss’ farm also the first German Lutheran cemetery in the area was established – known to this day as the Preiss Cemetery.

Rev. Kahmeyer served the Carver area till 1867 when he resigned due to illness. In July 1865, Rev. A. F. Fischer was installed as new pastor at Zion, Benton. It was under A. F. Fischer that regular church work in Carver begun and a congregation formed which first gathered in the local public school. On January 7, 1866 a meeting of German Lutheran citizens of Carver and vicinity was called; a society was established to build a Lutheran church in Carver and a committee was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws. Interestingly, the first written records of the German Lutheran church were all in English till 1871. 140 years later, we still have three names of the 19 charter members in our congregation: Kloos, Goetze, and Dauwalter.

The first members had decided to build a brick church for $2000, but due to financial problems[3] the plan was altered: On the 15^th Sunday after Pentecost of 1868, a brand new frame church for $1100 was dedicated, after already on the 10^th Sunday after Pentecost the Rev. V. Both was ordained and installed as first resident pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Association of Carver. After a year he received a call to Trinity Lutheran Church in Waconia, so that Rev. Fischer was again responsible for Zion and Trinity till 1871, when Henry Raedeke, a native of Hanover, Germany, who had studied at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, was ordained and installed as Trinity’s second resident pastor. He was also responsible for naming our congregation for the Holy Trinity. After Raedeke’s arrival a parsonage was built southeast of the church in 1872 which was later enlarged.

Rev. Raedeke served Carver, but he also organized and served several congregations in Scott County. And he also founded St. John’s in Chaska where he started preaching in 1884/5; he accepted a call to serve as St. John’s first pastor, while at the same time serving Trinity Lutheran Church in Carver. In 1888, Rev. Raedeke’s son, Henry Jr., became his assistant for both Trinity and St. John’s. In 1903, Henry Sr. became the assistant of Henry Jr. It was in 1891 that Trinity officially joined the Missouri Synod, after it had already been served by Missouri Synod pastors from its very beginnings.

Discussions began in 1913 finally to build the originally planned brick church further down the hill. The cornerstone of the new church was laid in 1914 and inscribed in German (on the southern corner of the steeple it can still be seen: Evangelisch Lutherische Dreieinigkeitskirche – Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church); the church was finished in the same year, possibly in October. Rev. Raedeke retired in 1921, after serving Trinity for the entire 50 years since his ordination, for health reasons. He remained in the parsonage (to the northwest of the brick church) till he died in 1930.

Raedeke’s successor became Rev. H. G. Gamber who was installed in 1921 and served until 1926 when he took a call to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Paul. During these years after the First World War, the German language became suspect to many English speakers as the language of the enemy. Holding services in German was therefore not a popular idea anymore. In 1922, Rev. Gamber conducted the first English service, resulting in a good attendance. Ten English services were held during 1922. In 1924, the congregation switched to alternating weekly between German and English.

The old church building on the hill continued to be used in various ways: confirmation class was held here five (!) days a week – in German in the morning; in English in the afternoon; also, the youth group used the building once a month. Rev. Gamber, after serving Bethlehem, St. Paul, went on to become the president of the Minnesota District from 1947-1957.

While Gamber went from Trinity to Bethlehem, Rev. Th. Kohn came from Bethlehem to Trinity in 1926 to succeed him here. He was installed on the first Sunday in Advent of that same year. In 1927, Trinity’s Ladies’ Aid donated the beautiful windows in the chancel area depicting Christ’s death and resurrection, the cornerstones of our salvation. During Kohn’s pastorate, which lasted three years, Saturday School was introduced in 1929, the same year Rev. Kohn suffered a stroke which made it impossible for him to continue his service at Trinity.

Rev. Kohn was succeeded by Rev. V. A. Ostermann in 1930 who had previously served a congregation in Alberta. It was in 1930 that the congregation’s Sunday School was established; in 1932 midweek services during Lent were begun; in 1936 a new pipe organ was purchased (it is still working today); in 1937 repairs on the parsonage were carried out, the constitution was rewritten and adopted, the old parsonage was sold, German and English services were conducted every Sunday. In 1943 Rev. Ostermann was called to a congregation in Mendota.

Rev. Ostermann was succeeded by Rev. E. Burdorf in 1943. During his tenure several repair and improvement projects on the parsonage and the church were carried out. Rev. Burdorf died unexpectedly of a heart attack in August 1945.

Trinity’s next pastor was Rev. P. H. Panning, a former military chaplain. He began his service in February of 1946 and served Trinity for five years. Again, several improvement projects on the sanctuary (new communion ware, altar linens, kneeling pads, new finishing for pews, new baptismal font) and the church kitchen were carried out before Panning received a call to a church in Duluth in 1951.

The congregation called the Rev. C. A. Bramscher to succeed Panning in 1952 who accepted the call but died in Chicago having preached only once in Carver on the first Sunday in April. He was 63 years old when he died; he had served in the pastoral office for 41 years.

Rev. O. A. Soeldner followed Bramscher already in 1952 and served till 1962 when he retired due to failing health. During his service at Trinity a new parsonage was built in 1954. In 1957 a new, fireproof roof was put on the church; a new furnace and restrooms were installed. In 1958 German services were discontinued at Trinity after over 90 years. In the early sixties, the outside of the church was refurbished (painting and tuck-pointing) and the old frosted windows in the church nave were replaced by the current stained glass windows displaying fitting Christian symbols.

Rev. Soeldner was succeeded by Rev. A. C. Esch in 1962 during whose tenure, it lasted till 1969, the congregation could celebrate its 100^th anniversary in 1966 with the dedication of the education wing, the estimated cost of which was $25.000 ($150.000 in today’s money). Rev. O. R. Harms, then President of the Missouri Synod, was present at the dedication ceremony on August 28.

After Rev. Esch the Rev. G. Klima served Trinity Lutheran Church for five years till 1975 when he took a call to South Dakota. In 1971 the church was remodeled, the wooden panels and symbols being the highlight.

In June of 1974, J. Langewisch was ordained and installed as Trinity’s next pastor; in 1977, he received a call to a mission congregation in Albertville.

In 1978, the Rev. J. Stern of Hartford, SD is installed as successor of Rev. Langewisch. In 1983, the congregation replaces the 1941 Lutheran Hymnal with Synod’s new hymnal, Lutheran Worship. In 1986, individual communion cups are introduced instead of the common cup. In 1989 Rev. Stern received a call to a congregation in Eagan.

In July 1990, Rev. W. Ahrens was installed as Rev. Stern’s successor; prior to his arrival the church interior was redecorated, a new carpet and a new loudspeaker system were installed. In 1991 Trinity could, by God’s grace, celebrate its 125^th anniversary. Rev. Ahrens took a call to another Minnesota congregation in July 1994.

In 1996, Rev. Ahrens was succeeded by K. Perry who, prior to his ordination and installation in June 1996, had served Trinity for a year as vicar under the supervision of Rev. K. Klaus of St. John’s in Chaska. In June 2003, Rev. Perry took a call to a congregation in the Chicago area.