St. John Lutheran Church history

The Latin root of congregation is “flock” or “a gathering.” The early history of St. John Lutheran congregation began over 140 years ago—long before the church was established or construction was contemplated. German Lutheran immigrants came from other states to homestead in the northwestern Minnesota Wylie area and yearned to worship together. The Rev. C. F. L. Risch, an elderly blind pastor, began to conduct services in his home with the help of his son in 1882 and on March 20, 1886, these worshippers gathered to found Immanuel Lutheran Church, Wylie Township.

During the Immanuel Lutheran Church pastorate of the Rev. Val Kern (1901-1906), Lutheran families in the Red Lake Falls area asked him to serve them in town as well. First meeting in homes and then in various rented buildings which included the Gervais Township School #88, the north side Presbyterian Church, and the Hamilton Avenue Opera House, St. John Lutheran Church was founded in 1903.

Following the demolition of the Opera House, families decided that it was time to build their own house of worship. St. John Lutheran Church, located on Kretzchmar and Seventh Streets, was dedicated on July 31, 1904.

English services were added in 1913. The dual parishes of Immanuel and St. John officially affiliated with the Minnesota District of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States. When the congregation celebrated 25 years in 1928, the anniversary booklet stated there were 22 members in the Ladies' Aid. The Young People's group affiliated with the International Walther League in 1929. In March 1931, the voters resolved that minutes be kept in English. In 1941 a new parsonage was built in Red Lake Falls. The Men's Club was organized.

Immanuel, Wylie Township, and St. John, Red Lake Falls formed a dual parish until the consolidation of the two congregations began during the pastorate of The Rev. Robert Boerger (1953-1955), who also served Redeemer Lutheran Church in Plummer. The congregations merged during the pastorate of The Rev. Orville Poellot (1955-1960). 

Plans to build a new house of worship to accommodate the combined membership began in the fall of 1957. On Sunday, April 6, 1958, ground was broken to erect a new St. John Lutheran Church at the south end of Red Lake Falls. The cornerstone was laid on August 24. With a tower and spire reaching approximately 60 feet, the construction cost was about $70,000.

On a frigid December 14th Sunday in 1958, around 650 people gathered for two special church dedication services. A dedication banquet for 250 people was held on the Thursday before Christmas. Per the December 25, 1958 issue of The Red Lake Falls Gazette, “The turkey dinner was served and cooked by men of the church who proved as proficient as any group of women.”

The dedication booklet closed with, “This church stands as a monument to the Lord. In all humility, we must say, ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build.’”

"For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:18-22 ESV). 

Believers in Christ who gather at St. John Lutheran Church, Red Lake Falls, and Redeemer Lutheran Church, Plummer, are served by The Rev. Jeffrey Lytle. 

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV).

"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame" 

(1 Peter 2:4-6 ESV).