About SLC

“In the Beginning…”

The year was 1946 and a group of folks from various walks of life and origin decided to join together in the Lord’s faith and begin a new church life in Springfield… In the spring of 1946 the Home Mission Board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sent Miss Alphild Kjorstad, a Parish Worker, to survey the area. Through the help of Reverend Harold E. Aalbue of Central Lutheran Church in Eugene, a nucleus of members of that church living in Springfield, and others in the area, proceeded to establish a home mission church….

Miss Kjorstad arrived in May of 1946, and remained five months. She called on homes  of those members of Central Lutheran Church who lived in the area and of others who desired a church home in the area. Through her guidance, the first Vacation Bible School was held, with 29 children in attendance in July, 1946….

Many of the prospective members were people who had come during the Great Migration from the Mid-West in the 1930′s and 1940′s, due to the Great Depression and the drought that accompanied it….

…We owe a great deal of gratitude to Pastor Aalbue, who held services each Sunday until the regular pastor arrived in September…In the finest sense of the word, Central Lutheran Church in Eugene is the mother church of  the new congregation. Twenty-one souls transferred from Central Lutheran and the congregation gave liberal financial aid from time to time during the trying early days of the congregation….

Services were held in the Playmore Theatre at 212 Main Street, the first service being July 7, 1946, with forty people in attendance. The building was used rent-free which was a blessing to the infant congregation….Springfield Lutheran was formally organized at a meeting at the Playmore Theatre on September 15, 1946, by Dr. H.L. Foss, President of the Pacific District of the Evangelical Lutheran Church….

Pastor Sterling H. Simonson of DeSmet, South Dakota, was called as the first pastor of Springfield Lutheran Church. He arrived in September and conducted his first service on September 29, 1946, and was formally installed by Pastor Aalbue the following Sunday, October 6. He moved into the new parsonage at 1212 “K” Street (now Centennial) on November 7, 1946…

…A most memorable day of joy was that of the ground breaking ceremonies on August 5, 1948. The corner stone (of Springfield’s current I Street location) was laid on November 21, 1948. The first service was held in the new church on December 19, 1948. What a wonderful time of thanksgiving to God. Dr. H. L. Foss conducted the dedication of the new sanctuary on April 10, 1949, with pastors in the area and officers of the church participating….

…Late in 1950, Pastor Simonson accepted a call to Duluth, Minnesota. Springfield again started searching for a Pastor….