The Union Congregational — Warroad Houses of Worship Part VIII

Presbyterianism is a Christian denomination that traces its roots to the Church of Scotland, often aligned with English Dissenters groups that favored revolution during the English Civil War of the seventeenth century. It was carried into the United States primarily by Scottish and Irish-Scot immigrants and adopted by New England Yankees in the nineteenth century. This denomination shares many similarities with non-Catholic, Protestant institutions in America such as Lutheranism and Calvinism. It was within this denomination that the Warroad Union Congregational Church first began.

Union Congregation Church, 1961

In 1902, a meeting in the old log schoolhouse was held by the local community and presiding Rev. John M. McGuire for the purpose of organizing a Presbyterian church in Warroad. At that time, Rev. McGuire had been preaching in the area for several months and believed it was time to formalize the Presbyterian community in eastern Roseau County. In order to financially organize the church, a committee consisting of Mrs. C. A. Moody, Miss Gerrie, Mr. J. G. Stein, Thomas Jones, and A. E. McDonald was formed. 

Over the next few months, the congregation met in the old Baptist church on Warroad's southside which served temporarily as a schoolhouse and was later purchased for use by St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Rev. McGuire sojourned to Warroad as their temporary pastor along with another, Rev. Herbert McHenry of Crookston. By 1903, Rev. Deacon was attending to services fairly regularly. At the end of that year, the Ladies' Aid hosted a bazaar and buffet supper to raise funds for the church. They sold aprons, dolls, and other textile articles. They also provided a musical and literary program for all in attendance (Warroad Plaindealer  12/10/1903). 

Original Presbyterian Church on Roberts Ave

By 1904, there was still no fulltime pastor in attendance in Warroad. Rev. McHenry occasionally came to Warroad to perform baptismal services as the presiding Presbyterian elder in the region. However, plans for a church building of their own was underway. Construction began in the summer of 1905 on Roberts Street and was completed later the next year. In May 1906, Rev. Asa John Ferry arrived to take charge of the Presbyterian Church in Warroad and Roosevelt. He graduated from Macalaster University in St. Paul in 1905 and, prior to coming to Warroad, pastored in Claremont, MN. He was known to have presided as a superintendent of mines in England and America prior to attending seminary school (Warroad Pioneer  11/09/1906).

The new church was dedicated in early 1907 and was adorned with a 600 pound bell. Work on a parsonage building to house the new minister was begun and, in December 1907, Rev. Ferry, his wife, and some of his younger children moved to town permanently. Meanwhile, the Ladies' Aid was consistent in performing plays, musical programs, and other social engagements for the church congregation. 

Rev. and Mrs. Ferry

Rev. Ferry resigned his service in May 1909 and the post was taken up by Rev. Robert S. Sidebotham, a graduate of Princeton University. For the first time since the organization of the church, Sunday services began taking place every Sunday rather than every second Sunday of the month. The arrival of the new pastor also coincided with the separation of the Roosevelt and Warroad Presbyterian churches. Shortly after arriving in Warroad, Rev. Sidebotham's wife, Alberta passed away from eclampsia, and it is not believed that the child survived. The pair had been married only a year at this time. While an inauspicious beginning to Rev. Sidebotham's first pastorate, he was installed as Presbyterian minister in October 1909 (WP  10/07/1909).

Fairly quickly, it became apparent that the church building was too small to contain the growing number of attendees. Plans began forming in 1911 to build a new church building downtown. The building plans included adding a church reading room, library, gymnasium, and several workrooms as well as an auditorium for worship services and meeting room for events. Rev. Sidebotham organized the early fundraisers to support the cause. Construction of the new church began in July 1912 at the corner of Wabasha Avenue and McKenzie Street, where the church still resides today. 

Around this same time, the Presbyterian leadership of the region moved Rev. Sidebotham from Warroad to Stephen, leaving the pulpit empty at Warroad Presbyterian. He retired from ministry in 1952 after serving in the St. Paul area for many years. He died in September 1967, in Westchester, NY at the age of 84. In his place came Rev. J. T. L. Coates of St. Cloud. Rev. Coates was present at the dedication of the new church in November 1912. The new building had cost approximately $4,800 (current USD: $139,000).

Rev. Jordan Tyler Lyell Coates, wife May, and son Oren

Rev. Coates remained only about a year before Rev. Calvin Foster was called to this place. He was officially installed in June 1914. Two years later, Rev. Foster was sent to Lake Andes, South Dakota to take over the church on the edge of one of the Sioux Reservations. Rev. J. L. Hess of Lake Andes was brought to Warroad in a sort of pastor-swap. Rev. Foster passed away in 1941 at the age of 72. 

Rev. Hess and his wife came to Warroad in the winter of 1916 and immediately jumped into running the church. Mrs. Hess was involved in Thursday evening Bible study. On the morning of February 9, 1917, shortly after the morning service began, a fire broke out in the church basement. The new church was entirely destroyed, despite a prompt response from the Warroad Fire Department. The cause of the fire was determined to be an overheated furnace. The tragedy of the loss of the church was further compounded by the fact that, only a week before, the Pioneer reported that the construction debt was nearly paid off (WP  02/01/1917).

That April, Rev. Hess saw to the induction of A. E. Cantelon and E. H. Wilcox to the church's board of elders. At the same time it was reported that 24 individuals gained membership to the church. The church rebuilding progressed swiftly and was expected to be completed that summer.

In January 1918, Rev. Hess and his wife left for Minneapolis, though it was unclear at the time if he would continue in ministry, despite having made many friends during their time in Warroad. The Ladies' Aid and Presbyterian Women's Missionary Society hosted a program to send them off which included a performance by local teens and lunch.

Over the next year, services were performed by a Rev. Hughes of the Twin Cities. He was succeeded by Student Pastor Rev. P. McCormack who was studying in Winnipeg. He remained in Warroad through 1919 and graduated in the spring of 1920, at which time he elected to pursue missionary work and was sent to Korea. Rev. McCormack's time in Warroad was interesting for one of his sermon topics, "Why Men Don't Go to Church," which produced a number of letters to the editor of the Pioneer about the reasons for the dwindling number of men attending church and the relationship of the community with pool halls and saloons. The vehemence of the Pioneer's editor's articles and Rev. McCormack's response in later editions produced great tension whenever the church was mentioned in the papers. The poor relationship between Rev. McCormack and the editor of the paper continued through McCormack's resignation from the pastorate and his leaving the area in mid-1920. 

Warroad Presbyterian Church, MacKenzie Street

Several pastors were called upon to interview for the position until Rev. Cassius Allison accepted the position in October 1920. From Cedar Rapids, IA, Rev. Allison was noted to be an interesting speaker and of a strong Protestant faith. He came with his wife, Ella, and their four children. It was at this time that the church began to go by the name Warroad Union Church, dropping Presbyterian from its name but maintaining many of the same tenets as before. 

Rev. Allison oversaw the purchase of the local theater in 1921 which would be repurposed for showing films and photo viewings that would not be "detrimental to the moral standards of the public." The top floor would be fitted into a kind of club space for young people of the community. The Pioneer described it as an experiment of church organizations getting more involved in the social sphere of the community (WP  04/07/1921).

Rev. Allison left in mid-1921 for Iowa and was temporarily replaced by Rev. A. K. Voss of Detroit, the district superintendent of the Congregational Churches. Several other pastors filled the pulpit between 1921–1922 including: 

• Rev. Campbell of New Richland (December 1921–January 1922)
• Rev. McLeod of Duluth (February 1922)
• Rev. W. H. Haley of Zumbrota (March–April 1922)
• Rev. C. H. McCaslin of Minneapolis (April 1922)
• Rev. T. J. Buckton of Pine City (May 1922)

Rev. J. T. M. Knox was the more frequent visitor to the church, preaching most Sundays throughout the summer of 1922. Although the Pioneer states that Rev. Knox was previously a pastor at the local Presbyterian church in the area, there is no record of him serving at the Union Congregation, so it is unclear where he ministered prior to the 1920s. It seemed that the church finally found a permanent minister in October 1922 when it called Rev. C. S. Newsome of Versailles, MO. The minister moved to Warroad with his wife and mother. However, Rev. Newsome only stayed until May 1923. At the end of 1923, the church voted to bring Rev. G. A. P. Austin to Warroad. He remained for two years before being called to Canada. He preached his farewell sermon in July 1925 and left for Oakburn, MB with his family. 

The church went through a period of crisis during this unstable period. The lack of permanent pastors was causing some within the MN Congregational Assembly to question the feasibility of keeping the Warroad church open. Rev. Eliot Moor of Minneapolis was sent in the fall of 1925 to assess the needs of the church and determine if there was a way to keep the church open. At the same time, student pastor T. C. McQueen took over the pulpit in early 1926. He resigned in May 1928 to accept a position touring with the nationwide Chautauqua movement. He later moved to Baudette and was ordained in October 1929.  

It wasn't until Rev. Frederick C. Schmidt came that Warroad finally had a long-term pastor. Born in Renville, MN, Rev. Schmidt attended Hamline University in 1917 and married schoolteacher Emma Joy Frederick in Grand Rapids. He was enlisted into the U.S. Army in World War I where he fought in France. Upon his return home, he was ordained into the Congregational Church and began his ministry alongside his wife. He arrived in International Falls in 1925 and soon took up the pulpit in Roosevelt where he also served on the local school board, Chamber of Commerce, the American Legion and was later elected the District Chaplain of the Legion. 

Rev. Frederick C. Schmidt

He came to Warroad in 1930 and saw to the immediate advancement of the place. Rev. Schmidt oversaw the repainting of the church and parsonage and the continuation of the Union Church School which saw 112 students enrolled between 1931–1932. The church closed for a few months every summer to see to necessary repairs and to spare the congregation from the immense heat of that time of year.

In 1935, the basement of the church was expanded along with other building alterations. The building was rededicated in January 1936 at the completion of the remodeling project. The dedication was celebrated with a program featuring instrumental and choir performances. Dr. Parson of Minneapolis was invited as speaker and he addressed the crowd at both a morning and a night service. 

Rev. Schmidt was involved in numerous city and church events. He helped host the Father-Son Banquet at the American Legion in the Union Church building with the help of the Ladies' Aid. Rev. Schmidt was also chosen to address the community at the American Legion Memorial Day program. The program took place at the Warroad High School Auditorium, Riverside Cemetery, and Holy Cross Cemetery (WP  05/27/1937).

In a surprising turn, Rev. Schmidt ran for and won the mayoral race for Warroad in 1937. He beat Roy Duggan in a vote of 207 to 151. It is more expected in the modern age for pastors and priests to refrain from elected positions in the community for obvious religious and social reasons, but it was more common in the early twentieth century. Despite his win, life had other plans for Rev Schmidt. Just three months later in March 1938, Rev. and Mrs. Schmidt were called to the pastorate in Ketchikan, Alaska on the Metlakatla Indian Reservation there. The Pioneer noted that "the position which Rev. Schmidt has been persuaded to accept is a testimony of the esteem in which the Warroad pastor is held by executives in his and allied denominations." The congregation honored his service on March 8, 1938 with a luncheon and musical selections which were used as a send-off (WP  2/17–3/10/1938). Rev. Schmidt went on become pastor at the Lapwai Indian Mission in Idaho in 1949 and the Kendrick-Julietta churches in Kendrick, ID. He retired in 1961 and settled with his family in Spokane, WA where he died in 1975. 

In the interim, Roosevelt's Pastor E. E. Lindsley served at the Union Church. He would frequently fulfill this duty between pastors in Baudette and Warroad and would likely be of little note if he wasn't connected to a bit of a mystery. Over a decade after filling in as pastor at the Union Congregation, Pastor Lindsley went missing in the woods behind his home in 1951. At the time, he was retired from pastoral duties at Roosevelt and Williams and 84 years old. A hundred men were reported to have joined the search, including Sheriff Elvin Sillirud and Pete Heppner, whose own son would later become pastor at the Union church. The Pioneer stated that Rev. Lindsley "climbed from his bedroom window very early last Tuesday morning [July 23], before his daughter, Mrs. Lois Simard, who made her home with him and cared for him, awoke. He was fully clothed but wore only carpet slippers, which made tracking difficult. He was accompanied by his grandson's dog, which came home again about noon on Wednesday."

In October, Rev. Lindsley's jacket was found by Arthur Robberstad while partridge hunting. It was found about one mile south of the Roosevelt railroad depot. A search of the area was attempted, but no other clues to the lost pastor's whereabouts were found. Searches continued throughout the end of October and his body was finally discovered in November 1952 by a hunter about a mile south of Roosevelt, near where his jacket was found the year prior. His gravestone sits in Wadena Cemetery in Wadena, MN, where his date of death is listed as either July 23, 1951 (the day he went missing) or November 28, 1951 (the day he was officially buried).

Rev. E. E. Lindsley standing with his "faithful steed" outside the Roosevelt parsonage, undated
(source: Tulane University Digital Library)

The son of a preacher, Rev. Henry M. Bissell arrived in Warroad from Turton, South Dakota in May 1938. Like Schmidt, Bissell took up the pulpit in Roosevelt at the Bethlehem Congregational Church.  The Union Ladies' Aid prepared the manse on Robert's Street for occupancy by the Rev. and Mrs. Bissell and their two sons, Harry and Billy. In July, the church formally welcomed the Reverend with a potluck lunch and reception. Mr. P. W. Chase, superintendent of Warroad Schools acted as toastmaster for the event. 

On the morning of February 9, 1940, the manse occupied by the reverend's family was found to be completely destroyed by fire. The fire began shortly after 5 a.m. when Rev. Bissell, attending to his wife who was sick with the flu, replenished the fire and returned to bed. Approximately an hour later, the man awoke to the house filled with thick smoke. The fire was thought to be caused by a defect in the house's chimney. The two Bissell children were blocked from exiting their room by the fire and were forced to exit via their second-story windows into the bitter cold morning. Rev. Bissell was assisted in getting his very ill wife out of the house by neighbor Dick Willems. She was taken to the hospital to recuperate while other lodgings were sought for the homeless Bissells (WP  02/15/1940).

The fire department responded quickly to the fire, but the nearest water hydrant was about a block away and thus it took some time to get enough water to the site. It was feared for a time that the Willems home next door would also burn, but it was thankfully saved. The Union congregation quickly prepared a freewill offering to support the family who lost most of their earthly possessions to the fire. The Fox Theater also contributed by donating the entirety of one night's show proceeds to the family. Rev. Bissell remained in Warroad until 1942 when they moved to the west coast. Rev. H. M. Bissell passed away in 1954 at the age of 75 after retiring to a five-acre plot in St. Paul. The pulpit was temporarily filled by Rev. J. Robert Hargraves of St. Paul, then the Counsellor of the National Committee for Cooperation in Character Education. He arrived in Warroad in late November 1942 with his wife and daughter and remained in the position until the church found another full-time pastor (WP  11/26/1942).

Dr. Paul T. Fuhrman was officially ordained at the Union Congregation Church in November 1944, though he began preaching as early as January of that year. He stayed for only a year before he was called away to teach Hebrew and Old Testament Religion at the seminary school in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Fuhrman is believed to have gone on to become Professor of Church History at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA. He passed away in 1968 at the age of 65.

In December 1945, the Union Congregation was burned to the ground just before 10 a.m., right before the Christmas service was set to begin. No cause for the fire has ever been determined, but the only things saved were six pews, the pulpit, and a few books. With no pastor in position at the time, Rev. George Stickney of Minneapolis, a representative of the Minnesota Conference of Congregational Churches, took charge of the church board to discuss options.

The church board voted unanimously in early 1946 to rebuild the church. The new church was expected to cost some $12,000 (current USD: $172,000). Around this time, Rev. R. H. Ewing came to Warroad to temporarily take over the pulpit and direct the fundraising efforts for the new church. Along with Rev. Fred Field of Baudette and Rev. R. Searles of Williams, one of the first fundraising efforts occurred at the Hotel Warroad in February, raising $5,400. Funds for a new church organ that were underway at the time of the church's burning were also split to help cover the costs of rebuilding (WP  02/14/1946). Later that year, the church would also fund a bus system to take children to Sunday School.

In late 1946, the church welcomed Rev. Cecil Floyd Wright of New Troy, Michigan to the pulpit. Rev. Wright arrived in Warroad with his wife, Margaret, and teenage daughter Virginia; the pair had two older sons, Robert and Arthur, who were attending university elsewhere. He had previously served as the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) secretary in Michigan. 

As the new year began, plans were finalized for the new church building, expected to seat 150 people. Work was expected to begin that spring if the weather cooperated. The congregation also voted in March 1947 to build a new church manse to replace the one badly damaged in the 1940 fire. The new manse would be built directly behind the new church building (WP  03/13/1947). A month later, a new altar set of solid, polished brass, a new cross, and two candlesticks were dedicated and planned to go into the new church. They were gifted to the church by Dr. and Mrs. T. C. Davis, former residents of Warroad who practiced medicine in Warroad and Roosevelt. 

Interior of Union Church, 1961

Plans for a new building changed in 1948 when the congregation voted to move the church in Pitt to the current spot of the church, rather than building a new one. The church still needed a basement and the manse was still expected to be added to the back of the church, but the cost of building a new church seemed too steep for the congregation to manage. Despite this decision being voted upon and approved, for unknown reasons, the church did not immediately purchase and move the Pitt church to Warroad. By 1949, there were still questions about whether this was the right decision and, in another vote, the congregation once again decided to construct a new building rather than waiting on the Pitt church (WP  06/13/1949).

By October 1949, the new basement was laid and was planned to be in use as early as October 28 for a rummage sale. The basement would be the location for services through the end of the year, as the rest of the building was not expected to be built until the next summer. 

Once again, the church struggled to put up the necessary funding for the construction of the building and services remained in the basement for some time. In August 1950, Rev. Wright announced that he and his family would leave for Nebraska that fall. The church provided a wonderful celebration of Rev. Wright's service in September in the church basement. At the close of the prepared supper, Dick Willems, then the president of the church's board of trustees, presented the pastor and his wife with a purse of money to purchase some remembrances from Warroad to bring to their new home. Rev. Wright passed away in 1984 in Michigan at the age of 90. 

A search committee was assembled right away to seek a new pastor for Warroad. The group selected Rev. Ernst Ekeberg, formerly pastor of the Methodist church in Roseau, to take over the pulpit as interim pastor at the Union Church. A native of Norway, Rev. Ekeberg received his bachelor's degree after studying in Germany and Sweden before coming to the United States in the late 1940s, at which point he took up his position at the Roseau Methodist Church. Rev. Ekeberg had recently resigned his position at the Methodist church but his plans to move elsewhere were canceled, leaving him without a church to pastor at. Thus, he would come to Warroad until a new assignment reached him. He came to Warroad with his wife and two daughters in late 1950. 

Construction on the new church resumed in August 1951 when the cornerstone of the church was "laid on Sunday and mis-laid on Monday," (WP  08/29/1951). The special service was performed with a speaker from the state conference of congregational churches and Rev. Ekeberg. Within the cornerstone was placed records from the church that burned in 1945 and new records from the church since that time. However, the Pioneer noted that "the [corner]stone was placed with proper ceremony in its place but the sealing it with cement into permanency was postponed until after the Sabbath (Sunday). On Tuesday, Rev. Ekeberg returned to the site to discover that the cornerstone was missing. It is unclear if the stone was ever found or returned, though one hopes it was, as it contained irreplaceable church records and was a "sacred symbol to the fine efforts the members of the church have gone to have their place of worship."

Union Congregation Church, 1950s

The first service in the completed building took place in December 1951 with a capacity crowd and a dedication for the new church organ. The congregation waited until spring to hold their building dedication and did so in early 1952. New pews were added a few months later giving the church a capacity of 170 people during services. 

Church dedication program, February 3, 1952

Another fire scare occurred two years later when, in April 1954, a problem with the furnace's motor caused a buildup of smoke throughout the church that would take a week to clear up and clean. Luckily, the church was undamaged and was back in session the following Sunday (WP  04/28/1954). Another scare in January 1955 involved Rev. Ekeberg being confined to the Baudette Hospital after force-landing his plane in the woods just south of of there. He had been on a return flight from Bemidji when the weather, which upon leaving was relatively peaceful, turned dark and stormy the further north he got. He was forced to walk for several hours in heavy snow to get out of the woods, an action which placed severe strain on his heart (WP  01/12/1955).

Rev. Ekeberg resigned his post a few months later, in mid-1955. It was noted that in time he'd been at the Union Church, the congregation size had nearly doubled. He had been offered the position as interim pastor for the Congregational Conference of Minnesota, as well as offers to candidate for other churches around Minnesota. He decided in November 1955 to reject the position at the Congregational Conference and instead left to take up the pulpit at the 1st Congregational Church in Madison, MN. He did return a few weeks later, however, to see to the dedication of the new stained glass windows that were installed at the church. 

While the church searched for a new pastor, Dr. Clem E. Wagstrom of Roseau conducted lay services at the Union Church. Despite the church seeing numerous candidates for the position, it was decided in July 1956 to offer the position to Dr. Wagstrom permanently, which he accepted. Dr. Wagstrom was born in Pelican Rapids, MN in 1919 and later joined the National Guard. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942 and assigned to the 89th Infantry Division. During his brief stint overseas, he took part in the Battle of the Bulge in Beligum in the winter of 1944–1945 and then joined a unit in France just prior to the end of the war in Europe. After returning to the United States, he attended NW Health Science University and graduated with a Doctorate of Chiropractic Medicine in 1951. He opened his practice in Roseau before being called to the Union Church. 

In 1957, the Union Ladies' Aid were determined to open a merchandise exchange within the old Carlquist Building on the corner of Lake and Wabasha (the location of the former Heritage Jewelers and the current Corner Closet) which would be open twice a week. The purpose of the exchange was to provide women's and children's clothing, as well as household furnishings, for sale on commission by the Aid. A year later, another venture was begun by the church to add an extension to the building that would be used for Sunday School. The new building would be divided into four classrooms. Construction was completed by Ed Christian and Sons with the help of volunteer labor from the congregation.

Rev. Dr. Wagstrom resigned his position in June 1960 in order to pursue schooling to enter the clergy. He and his family left Warroad for Missouri shortly after where Dr. Wagstrom attended Eden Seminary School in St. Louis, MO whilst simultaneously pastoring at a church in De Soto, MO. He was officially ordained in 1964 and moved to Erskine, MN. He retired in 1990 and passed away in Bagley, MN in August 2018 at the age of 98.

In his place came Rev. Roy Brown of Paynesville, MN. Born in Annandale, MN, Rev. Brown entered the Evangelical Free Church School and Seminary in Chicago in 1942 at the age of 17 and completed the three-year program in just two years. After graduation, he pastored at numerous churches across the midwest before meeting and marrying his wife, Vernis, in Paynesville. He was installed as pastor at the Union Congregation in February 1961. However, he only stayed a few months before he was called to candidate for a position in Wisconsin which would see to the merging of four rural churches into a larger Evangelical church. After leaving Warroad, Rev. Brown went on to pastor at numerous other churches in the northwest until he finally retired in 1990 from Edgemont United Church and Pringle Methodist in South Dakota. Despite retiring, Rev. Brown continued preaching at several different churches until he suffered a stroke around 1996. He died in Edgemont, SD in 2002 at the age of 77.

Rev. Donald, wife Donna, and children
Richard, Robert, and Mary Ellerbush, 1961

Luckily, the church did not need to look too far for Rev. Don Ellerbusch, who at the time was serving as pastor of the Roseau Methodist Church. Rev. Ellerbusch was born in Sioux City, IA and graduated from high school in Fargo, ND. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and earned the rank of a 2nd Lieutenant during World War II. He went on to receive a Master's Degree from NDSU where he met his first wife, Donna Fisk. The couple lived and worked in several places as Rev. Ellerbusch served where he was needed, bringing the family to Warroad in 1961. 

Because Rev. Ellerbusch had not completed seminary school, he was not officially ordained as minister until 1965 after completing three and a half years under the ministers of the Rainy River Association and the Theological Seminary of St. Paul. He apparently handed in a notice of resignation at the Union Church in late 1966 with his expected departure being in mid-1967 (WP  12/14/1966). Despite this, Rev. Ellerbusch remained in Warroad and continued preaching at the Union Church for another decade alongside other pastors, including Student Pastor Murray Reilly and Rev. J. Theodore Alam. 

In 1968, the church celebrated Alice Schulz and Lucille Berglund for their service to the church as organists. The two women were noted to have each served nearly thirty years together, splitting their duties between them. Rev. Ellerbusch is noted as saying: "You understand that we are not putting you out to pasture, we hope you will continue on serving for many more years, but these gifts are only a token of our love and appreciation for what you have done through the years." The women were gifted corsages from two younger organists, Linda Landby and Carol Krahn, and a beautiful fur piece.

Union Congregation Church, 1970s, with added back rooms

The 1960s and 70s flew by in the church with little to upset the status quo until 1972. The church voted that year to withdraw their membership from the United Churches of Christ and instead determined to affiliate themselves with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. According to Wikipedia, the main difference between the two organizations was in an institutional merger that occurred in 1957. "The [NACCC] was founded in 1955 by former clergy and laypeople of the Congregational Christian Churches in response to that denomination's pending merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church to form the United Church of Christ in 1957." The result of this merger, the United Church of Christ, has opened itself to more liberal practices while the NACCC remained more firm on the foundations of the congregational churches. 

After leaving the Union Church permanently in 1977, Rev. Ellerbusch does not appear to have gone back into ministry and instead he remained on his family's farm in Warroad and at Lake Vermont. His wife Donna passed away in 1981 and he remarried twice to Patricia (m. 1983–her death 1991) and Sandy (m. 2002–his death 2016). He passed away in Wayzata in March 2016 at the age of 91. 

In the interim, student Steve Heppner preached through the summers of 1978–1979 and was ordained in 1980. The son of Pete Heppner, Pastor Heppner and his new bride, Joan Nilsen, were a welcome sight around town and within the church. Rev. Heppner remained the primary pastor at the Union Church until mid-1983. Rev. Heppner currently pastors at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Billings, MT, where he has been since around 2014.

Rev. Steven Heppner

Then came a very familiar face to the Warroad area. Mark Watson and his family arrived in Warroad in late 1984–early 1985. Born to a Canadian Air Force pilot, Watson spent much of his early life moving from place to place, including many overseas stays in France, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1966, the family relocated to Winnipeg. He was described by the Pioneer as a very musical fellow who was contracted to sing at various venues in Canada and with the Manitoba Opera Association from the ages of 17–21. He met and married his wife, Deb in 1974. In 1979, he entered Winnipeg Bible College and, taking a short break to pursue music in Montreal in 1980, he finished school with a B.A. in Bible studies and later received a Master's Degree in Biblical counseling. 

Prior to coming to Warroad, Pastor Watson was pastor at the Charleswood Baptist Church in Winnipeg while pursuing his Master's. They came to Warroad with five daughters and would add a sixth daughter, Sarah, a few years after. They moved into Harley Jensen's old house on west Lake Street. 

Pastor Mark, (wife) Deb, Christy, Keri, Laurie, Jennifer and Cathy Watson

Anyone who has had the privilege of meeting Pastor Mark or any of his family knows that they are a charming and loving family. Pastor Watson can still be seen running across town these days, always preparing for his next race. He remained pastor at the Union Church for about five years before resigning in early 1990. Over the next few years, several guest speakers took over the pulpit as a search committee began looking for new pastoral candidates.

Union Church, October 1986

These speakers included Wes Cole, Sue Jaros, Fred Caravetta, and finally, Rev. Roger Anderson. In mid-1990, Rev. Anderson worked for Lutheran Social Services in Roseau County and at one time served as pastor at the Roseau Methodist Church. He acted as interim pastor for about a year before Pastor Dale Bowen came along. Pastor Bowen had previously served with the U.S. Navy for many years. He met his wife, Kathryn, while stationed in Florence, Italy in the 1970s. After he retired from the Navy, he attended St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. He pastored at a small town in Kansas for three years before coming to Warroad in November 1991 with his wife and two children, Zachary and Margaret. 

When Pastor Bowen left in early 1993, Rev. Anderson once more took on the interim pastor position. He remained in the pulpit until January 1996 when the congregation voted to accept Rev. Scott Snider as the new pastor. Rev. Snider was born in California and, like Rev. Watson, grew up on naval bases where his father worked. He was baptized into the Lutheran faith when he was 17 before attending Augsburg College in Minneapolis for a degree in philosophy and a minor in religion. He officially entered seminary school in 1983, the same year he married his wife, Pam. He graduated from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, TX in 1996, where he attended school whilst pastoring at various Protestant churches. Just after his graduation, he was called to pastor at the Union Congregation Church in Warroad.  

Rev. Snider remained in Warroad for just under 3 years, and in 1999, they moved to Quincy, Illinois to pastor at another Congregational church. While ministering there, he and his wife felt led to transition from Protestantism to the Roman Catholic Church around 2003. After receiving permission to enter a Catholic seminary (because he was married) and begin training to become a priest. In an article about his change in denomination, on bishop noted that "one of the Vatican's conditions in permitting a married, former Protestant minister to be ordained a Catholic priest, is that he cannot be assigned as a pastor. He may serve as a parochial administrator, a parochial vicar, or in a specialized area," (Catholic Times  02/12/2012). He was ordained in October 2011 as a church Deacon. You can watch an interview with Father Snider in 2020 discussing his path to Catholicism here.

Deacon Scott Snider and wife Pam, 2012 (photo source: Catholic Times)

Shortly after the couple left Warroad, the Union Church welcomed Rev. Richard E. Pritchard to the pulpit. A native of Wisconsin, Rev. Pritchard attended Park College in Kansas City, MO from 1937–1938, while also ministering as a student pastor at St. Paul Presbyterian Church. He transferred a year later to Carroll College in Waukesha, graduating in 1941 and going on to graduate from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1944. He was officially ordained that same year into the Presbytery. Because of the war, Rev. Pritchard spent a year acting as a U.S. Army Air Chaplain in Newfoundland before ministering at various churches across the Midwest. 

He came to Warroad as interim pastor, and despite being 86 at the time, he continued to grow the church over the next two years. He continued the annual Vacation Bible School at the church in August 1999 and included classes for pre-school ages through adulthood to attend and learn about Jesus Christ. Later on that year, he established Christians Synonymous, a group for Christians seeking addiction help and another program, Respect for Sex, which focused on teaching teens and young adults about pre-marital sex, safe sex, and how to deal with issues of promiscuity, pornography, and abortion (WP  12/08/1999). Rev. Pritchard remained in Warroad until mid-2001, at which point he returned to Wisconsin. He passed away in 2014 at age 100.

Rev. Richard Pritchard

Pastor Gregory Selmon arrived in 2001 from Tennessee. He met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth, on a missions trip to Thailand before attending Miami University of Ohio. He graduated there with a degree in ministry and later returned to seminary school to receive his Master's. He was ordained into the Southern Baptist church and began a church-planting ministry with the Christian Reformed Church and the Reformed Church in America in New Hampshire. He later transferred his ordination to the Presbyterian Church of America and pursued his doctorate.

In 2001, Selmon was attentive to the needs of the small Minnesota church as he noted, "the heart of the church [was] seeking change and their desire to grow with God...as the church sees itself as an intellectual church and at the same time is open to changing its style of worship," (WP  07/25/2001). Pastor Selmon, Mary Elizabeth, and their two children, Preston and Geneva, settled in Warroad for the next year before moving on to other ministries.

During that time, the couple brought about some changes within the church. They added to the worship service by including more music and time of prayer. They also moved Sunday School from the mornings to the evenings, encouraging children to eat dinner with the pastor in a potluck-style gathering before they attended classes. Focus on the family and accessibility issues continued to be a primary concern of Pastor Selmon. After leaving Warroad in 2002, Rev. Dr. Selmon received his Ph.D. in Divinity Studies from Vanderbilt University and currently ministers at the Christ Community Church in Great Falls, Montana, where he lives with wife Mary Elizabeth and his six children.

Union Church, 2001

By the end of 2002, the church was being served by interim Pastor Pamela Haug. She was ordained into the church in December 2002 and was filling this role when the church celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2003. Celebrations included a return of Rev. Dr. Pritchard as guest speaker and a potluck worship service for the community over the 4th of July weekend. 

Pastor Pam and her husband Dennis were greatly involved in helping children and the disabled. In this capacity in mid-2003, the church voted to construct a handicap accessible elevator to the church. Construction on the church began in the spring of 2004. The church would receive a new entrance and a handicap lift. At the groundbreaking ceremony on April 25, Pastor Pam noted that the church was meant to be both spiritually uplifting but also physically uplifting. The new entrance would allow individuals with disabilities greater access to the Word of God (WP  05/12/2004). 

Pastor Pam and Dennis Haug, 2014

Pastor Pamela and Dennis left Warroad in June 2005 with a farewell supper held in their honor after the worship services on June 12. She was last known to be operating a counseling program out of Illinois known as I Am Azaria where she offered faith-based services and life-coaching. In 2014, her husband Dennis was operating a small barbershop that offered free haircuts for homeless individuals and provided food, clothes, and shelter. Together the pair have 13 children. 

It would be over a year before a new pastor was secured for the church. Rev. Dr. Rick Brown received his degree in Biblical Studies from John Wesley Bible Institute in 1987 and went on to receive his Master's in 1995. He came to Warroad from Nekoosa, Wisconsin with his wife, Renee, and son, Philip. Rev. Brown and his wife had been in ministry for 17 years at that time and had pastored at churches in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Kansas, and California. For unknown reasons, Rev. Brown stayed less than a year before departing to take on a smaller community church elsewhere in northern Minnesota. He currently serves as pastor in Great Falls, Montana and is a member of the Cascade County Suicide Prevention group. Sadly, Rev. Brown's wife, Renee, known as "Penny" to her friends, passed away on June 7, 2022 after a long battle with cancer. 

Throughout the end of 2008 and 2009, services were taken up by a rotation of pastors, including Rev. Virgil Hegle, Pastor Karen Holmberg-Smith of Zion Lutheran Church, and Rev. Don Fisher. More recently, services at the church have been split between Pastor Kyle Krahn and Rev. Fisher. The transition to online worship services through COVID was a learning curve for many churches, but the Union Church has maintained its video streaming through their Facebook page, including music provided by Rev. Fisher's daughter-in-law and the local piano teacher, Nancy Fisher and her son, Jonas. 

The church will celebrate it's 120th anniversary next year, and we wish them well as they continue to grow with the Warroad community.

Union Congregational Church, 2021

Thank you for joining us in our latest part of the Warroad Houses of Worship series. Be sure to leave us a comment!

~ Erin Thompson, Museum Manager