After the Fargo fire of 1893, Catholics donated part
of their building fund to fire relief. This resulted in the delayed construction of St.
Mary's Cathedral, an example of Victorian Gothic built in 1898. Nick Carlson / The Forum
Churches cling to role of
community-builder
Immigrants gather in houses of worship
By Erin Hemme FroslieThe Forum
They seem more than a century apart.
The sod huts, school rooms and saloons that housed the first church services in the Red River Valley appear to be of a different religious tradition than the multi-million-dollar buildings where services are held today.
But from the earliest pioneer days to the present, places of worship have served a vital role in the social and cultural development of communities on the plains. In the beginning churches were a place for immigrants to maintain their Old World traditions, while gradually becoming Americanized. Today churches provide a sense of community in a society that is becoming increasingly mobile.
And while the exterior has changed, the churches,
synagogues and mosques of today still serve the same purpose: a place for believers to
gather and worship.
Gethsemane Church was raised to Episcopal cathedral status sometime after construction. The building was to have been a masonry structure, but budget cuts allowed only a red sandstone foundation with a frame construction. The structure held the distinction of being the only wooden Episcopal cathedral in the United States until it burned in 1989. Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU Libraries
Although a variety of Christian missionaries preached to early settlers in North Dakota and Minnesota, the first congregations in the Fargo-Moorhead area were established by the denominations that had been in America the longest - Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Congregational. As the sons and daughters of the Pilgrims moved west, their home churches often financially supported missions and the building of churches on the prairie.
Meanwhile, Scandinavian and northern European
immigrants, who had few resources and no English skills, had little interest in adopting
these denominations as their own. These settlers, who were mostly Lutheran, Catholic or of
the Reformed tradition, established their churches as ethnic centers in a bewildering new
land.
Three years after Trinity Lutheran's second church was dedicated, English became the official language of the congregation. Norwegian services, however, continued in the Moorhead church until 1938. Clay County Historical Society
The Rev. William C. Sherman, a sociologist at North Dakota State University, says the church was often the center of ethnic ghettos that popped up all over Minnesota and North Dakota.
"They represented ‘a little Norway,’ ‘a little Germany,’" Sherman said. "In fact many people from the old country who weren’t religious began going to church here because it’s where their language was spoken and where their culture was being kept alive."
By 1910, 71 percent of the region’s citizens were foreign-born or had foreign-born parents, making most of the churches of immigrant descent. Language was the basis for at least 14 Lutheran synods in North Dakota. The effects of this can still be seen today in small towns where two churches of the same denomination are located near each other.
People of the Jewish faith made their appearance in the region in the mid- to late 1800s. Differences between well-educated German Jews and lesser-educated Jews from Eastern Europe, however, made it difficult to establish a Jewish congregation. In 1891 an Orthodox rabbi in Fargo commented that it was challenging to gather a minyon, 10 Jewish males over the age of 13 required for prayer services in Orthodox Judaism.
1871: The Rev. Oscar Elmer holds the first church services in Moorhead and Fargo. In Moorhead the Presbyterian missionary constructs a crude room, which becomes the first Presbyterian church in Moorhead. The promise of free liquor encourages church attendance in Fargo.
The first church built in Fargo was constructed by the Methodists. Today First United
Methodist Church stands on the original site. Nick Carlson / The Forum
1874: Fargo’s first church building, First Methodist, is completed. Three years earlier Methodists were uncertain if they should establish a church in Moorhead or Fargo. When a Methodist minister came to Fargo to hold a service, J.B. Chapin, one of Fargo’s founders, paid 50 cents to anyone who would attend. The hall was full and Moorhead couldn’t compete. The present church still stands on the original site.
1891: John Shanley, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of North Dakota, moves the cathedral from Jamestown to Fargo. According to his memoirs, Fargo wasn’t exactly the promised land: "Most of my Fargo flock, I found to my horror, were whiskey men, gamblers and worse … the church was the worst apology for a church I have ever seen …"
1896: Eastern European Jewish settlers formally organize an Orthodox congregation, Fargo Hebrew Congregation. The rabbi, David Lesk, also provides religious services to smaller settlements in the area. In 1907 the settlers begin to build a synagogue.
1930s: Before World War I, more than half of the churches in the region held services in an Old World language. Increased nationalism after the war shifts the language of choice to English, although some churches continue to hold foreign-language services into the 1960s.
1947: A Reform Judaism congregation is established. In 1949 the name Temple Beth El is given to the Jewish educational center that serves as the temple.
1962: First Lutheran Church in Valley City, N.D., becomes a pawn in an attempt to merge the Lutheran Free Church with the American Lutheran Church. After bitter controversy, in which the church minister and the anti-merger majority are locked out of the church, First Lutheran becomes an ALC congregation. The dissenters form the Association of Free Lutheran congregations, which are led by the Rev. John P. Strand, a native of North Dakota.
Mid-1960s: Vatican II revolutionizes the Catholic church. The most easily perceived changes are the ways in which Catholics worship. Mass is celebrated in the vernacular language, the priest faces the congregation and the music becomes less traditional. Vatican II also changes the church’s attitude toward the non-Catholic world by expressing a spirit of cooperation. Non-Catholics are even invited by Pope John XXIII to observe the Vatican II sessions.
1973: Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizes abortion, which fuels a battle that will last into the 21st century between pro-choice supporters and pro-life activists, many of whom are associated with religious organizations.
1987: Sixteen years after receiving his first invitation to visit the Red River Valley, world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham holds a three-day crusade in June at North Dakota State University’s Dacotah Field. The event, reminiscent of revivals held in the early 20th century, attracts 65,850 people of all faiths and more than 4,000 respond to Graham’s altar calls.
1988: The Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches merge. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America becomes the fourth largest Protestant denomination.
1992: Hundreds of anti-abortion demonstrators, including clergy, are arrested during demonstrations in Fargo and Wichita, Kan. This same year Bishop James Sullivan of the Fargo Catholic Diocese organizes what becomes the annual Walk for Life, where pro-life marchers walk from St. Mary’s Cathedral past Fargo’s abortion clinic.
1999: Islam becomes the second-largest religion in Fargo-Moorhead. The growth comes largely from refugees from Bosnia and Somalia.
