As a member of the 75th Anniversary Planning Committee, when I heard that (most of) Emmaus’ old bulletins have been saved I thought it would be interesting to read them and see what I could learn about Emmaus’ history, and share some tidbits in The Light. I failed to anticipate just HOW MANY bulletins that would actually be! Nor did I have any idea how much I could actually write about what I learned from them and other related sources! This has certainly been a trip down memory lane, reading many, many familiar names, seeing baptismal dates of my childhood friends, and seeing lots of numbers. There were numbers of souls, family units, Sunday School students, teachers, confirmands, annual budgets, monthly budgets, important dates for the church, important dates for the community, the list goes on. At the heart of it all, and coming through loud and clear with each week, was a desire of this young congregation to honor God and be a witness to the community.
In 1950 Bloomington was still a village, with a population of 9,900. Marvin Anderson was busy building homes in the area around Emmaus. The police department was formed in 1953, with three officers. 1953 also saw the installation of Bloomington’s first traffic signal at 98th and Lyndale. The grocery stores near Emmaus were Red Owl on Portland, and Country Club Market on Nicollet. Atlantic Mills Department Store was on the border of Richfield and Bloomington on Nicollet Avenue, where you could purchase items on layaway. These stores were closed on Sundays, as were most gas stations. There was a Gunther’s Dairy near Fenlason Park. In the winter there was a warming house and a skating rink at Fenlason. According to the Bloomington Historical Society, four new elementary schools and a new consolidated high school (later renamed Lincoln High School) were built in the 1950s. The Metropolitan Stadium opened in 1956 (as did Southdale Shopping Center—but that was all the way in Edina). Regarding road construction, 35W was being worked on throughout the 1950s. Construction on I-494 in Bloomington began in the late 1950s.
The Lutheran Free Church was led to plant a church in this area of Bloomington in 1950, and in 1951 the LFC Board of Home Missions purchased property on 85th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Pastor Chester Blake was called to be a church planter, and he moved with his family in to the “little house” on the property in the summer of 1951. He started working right away, knocking on doors to invite people to this new church coming in the neighborhood. A story that I have heard more than once was that when he knocked on the Johnson’s door, Lois welcomed him heartily, saying “We’ve been praying for you to come!” Emmaus became a Lutheran Free Church Mission Congregation on December 16, 1951 with 16 families (61 souls) as charter members. Sunday morning services were initially held at the newly built Cedarcrest Elementary School.
The first bulletin was printed for the March 2, 1952 service. “Today we inaugurate the use of the Every Sunday Bulletin Service in our church. This is another step in the development of a full program for our church. So we as a church have moved from one point of progress to another. May this bulletin service also serve in the Lord’s work in its humble way by presenting the morning service, the announcements for the week, and other matters of informative and devotional nature.”
Each bulletin started with the order of worship, then the announcements for the week. Business meetings were held quarterly with agendas published in the Sunday bulletins. Many of the bulletins also had a short Bible Study, a moral lesson, and/or information about an issue in the church or community, as well as pleas for contributions to clothing drives for Lutheran World Relief or paper drives sponsored by Boy Scouts. For the first few years, the choir met for practice in the homes of various choir members. Until Emmaus had its own building, Lenten services were also held in homes. By the middle of the decade women’s Circles (Lydia, Naomi, and Priscilla to name a few) met in homes or the parsonage weekly.
Music was a very big part of each Sunday morning service. There was a prelude, an opening hymn, special music before the offering, a second hymn just before the sermon, a hymn following the sermon, closing with the three-fold Amen and the postlude. Mrs. Einar Haugen played the piano or organ, joined in following years by Mrs. Roy Anderson, Curtiss Blake (Pastor Blake’s son), Mrs. Warren Kingsbeck, Mrs. Arlon Kompelein, and Mrs. F. McCaughan . (None of the married women had first names in the 1950s.) The special music was provided by one of the several choirs or a vocal or instrumental solo, duet or ensemble from the congregation.
According to an April 1952 bulletin, the congregation planted seeds of a building fund the previous fall, with a goal of $1,000. By the end of May 1952 there was more than $1,200, but some of that total may have been in the form of pledges. The church’s monthly budget of $205.96 had been “revised upward” and was considered the minimum, citing that it was “difficult to determine the needs of a young and growing congregation.” Sunday School enrollment was over 170, with 14 teachers. Clearly, there were plenty of children coming to Sunday School whose parents were not members of the congregation. On June 22, 1952 the first Sunday School picnic was held. “Pot luck encouraged. Coffee and ice cream provided by the Sunday School.” In that same bulletin was a request for the planned work day, Saturday, June 28 “Asking for a good group of volunteers so we can get the basement walls of the new building up.” Many hours were spent and many members worked together to build the first building which they were able to start using in 1954. A June bulletin states the pre-school Bible program (VBS) had more than 100 3-6 year olds. “With more space and better facilities, they really enjoyed their week of school.”
Emmaus became a self-sustaining congregation in 1955 and in the summer of that year the church decided to operate a Christian Kindergarten with plans to start in the fall: 35 children were enrolled the first year, 72 the second. Tuition was $10/mo., with additional $5/mo. for transportation. VBS enrollment that year was over 160 students.
“Lacking space and having lots of kids”, Sunday School had a schedule: grades 1-6 met at 8:45, Pre-school was during the 10:00 service, and Confirmation and High School classes were held during the 11:15 service. To accommodate the large number of students in the Junior Choir, it was split into two groups that met at different times during the week.
The church’s monthly budget was $900 that year ($10,800 annual). On October 23, 1955 new members were received during the quarterly business meeting which also included dinner. On the agenda was the merger vote, debt retirement proposal, expansion prospects, and hiring new workers. There was also an announcement about an upcoming general rally on the liquor issue: “for all who are interested in a ‘dry’ Bloomington being held at Oak Grove Presbyterian.” (I had no idea that temperance was a hot-button issue in Bloomington in the 1950s!)
Many of the bulletins for 1956 were missing, but the annual budget jumped to $25,240. There were 25 confirmands that year and there was a “PTR Mission” week: Preaching, Teaching, Reaching Mission. Guest speaker was Russell Quanbeck.
From the Feb 24, 1957 bulletin: “This morning we welcome Pastor Amos Dyrud to our church. He is our missionary to Madagascar…”
In March there was a special request for funds to purchase a new piano as the current one could not be tuned to match the organ. They got the new piano in time for Easter the following month! Mrs. Haugen was no longer listed as playing, but the other four were still playing regularly.
Members were encouraged to attend the Lutheran Free Church Annual Conference where they planned to discuss the question regarding the merger with other Lutherans, ALC, ELC, and UELC
By 1957 the annual budget had grown to $31,092.60. The church was still growing, and they appointed a committee to study ways and means of expanding the facilities.
Emmaus had two couples each Sunday serving as “receptionists.” There was a “bio” to introduce each couple to the congregation. These little bios were particularly sweet for me to read, as I did know many of these people. It was fun to picture them as young parents and church and community builders. I was privileged to observe them as they grew older and appreciate a part of the legacy they left.
1957 also saw the start of our church library. In one of the September bulletins there was a request for donations of either books or money. Members were encouraged to “check it out, in the room behind the pulpit.” (Pretty sure there was a note in a 1958 bulletin asking people to return items to the library so that others could read them, too…)
Between 1955 and 1959 the Emmaus congregation made good use of the building and the space they did have. There were activities most nights of the week: Boy scouts, Cub scouts, Pioneer Girls, Chapel Choir, Junior Choir, Senior Choir, Confirmation, Mid-week service, Luther League, Dorcas, Men’s Brotherhood (monthly dinner). Several times throughout the year they showed films in the church. They had a mother-daughter tea on a Sunday afternoon; father-son banquets—more than one—were held on Monday. (The bulletin encouraged attendance, “If you don’t have a daughter or a son but wish to come let us know your interest. If you have an extra daughter or son and are willing to share, let us know.”) There was a bowling league, youth Basketball, there was slo-pitch softball for the men. Emmaus won the Bloomington Slo-Pitch trophy in 1957. There were several announcements encouraging attendance at community events such as Augsburg choir concerts or special events being held at other churches in the area: W.M.F. rallies, Bible camp which was held at Wapogasset in Wisconsin, Deeper Life conference at Medicine Lake.
Most Sundays during these years there was a baptism, or multiple baptisms. Some were adult baptisms, a few were children or youth, most were infants.
In 1958 Emmaus said farewell to Pastor Blake and welcomed Pastor Justin Torgrimson. At the end of 1958 there were 192 family units
The Easter 1959 sunrise service was at 6:00 and breakfast was served at 7. I believe this was the first Easter breakfast served at Emmaus.
They had 3 weeks (!!!) of VBS that year. Two weeks were for 1-8 graders, and one week for preschoolers. There was another Preach-Teach-Reach week, and participation in the “National Day of Prayer declared by President Eisenhower” was encouraged. “Sign up on the sheet for our 24-hour vigil.” There was a series of Cottage Prayer Meetings held in members’ homes.
As you read some of these tidbits, did you notice the beginnings of several programs that are still in existence today? Clearly God’s hand was at work in the lives of the members of this budding congregation. Be on the lookout for the next Decade Snapshot with focus on the 1960s.