Evangelicalism in the Northwest — Warroad Houses of Worship Part X

Revivalism in America is known, but rarely understood. The premise of revivalism is that the spirit and character of a church body or organization is renewed and invigorated to preach the Gospel and employ the teachings of Christianity in all walks of life. America has had numerous so-called "Great Awakenings" in its history, and it is through these movements that the churches we are looking at today formed. The First Great Awakening occurred in the first half of the eighteenth century, between 1725–1760, in the New England region, primarily Massachusetts (though "Frontier Revivalism" also took place further west). This revivalist movement caused a shift in preaching styles of itinerant pastors, from dense and droning Bible readings to more charismatic styles that promoted democratic thought and action. The Second Great Awakening is the most famous of these revivalist movements. It occurred in northwest New England and the Midwest, regions that were predominantly ignored by itinerant preachers for the belief that the rural areas were far less educated than New England and therefore had little to gain from new methods of preaching. In fact, religious revivalism during the Second Great Awakening of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century spurred many religious organizations and movements to form, including numerous African American religious institutions and the emergence of temperance unions, abolitionist movements, and women's rights movements. 

The Third Great Awakening followed the Civil War and brought with it the age of Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, and the emergence of many new religious denominations, including the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, and the Social Gospel Movement. Tent revivalism was common during those days, and emphasis on missions work was especially apparent. On the tails of the Third Great Awakening came a church that, at first, had no name, but eventually became known as the Evangelical Covenant Church.  

Of course, in 1934, the Warroad Pioneer had no name for the tent services that were happening on KaKayGeesick Bay. Rev. George Wadena, a Native American missionary, regularly gave sermons on Sunday nights. Rev. Wadena also preached at the Union Church occasionally and spoke at other regional assemblies. He was born in Gull Lake in 1886 and later moved to White Earth, Naytahwaush. He married Josephine Guinn sometime in the late 1920s–early 1930s and moved to Warroad to begin his ministry in 1934. When Rev. Wadena was away on missions work, evangelism was often delivered by Rev. Carl Gustav Anderson, a well-known man from the area. Rev. Anderson was born in Sweden in 1886 and came to the United States in 1901. He began serving as a pastor in Wisconsin before he came to Roseau in 1934 with his wife, Sanna, who sadly passed away only a year later. While living in Roseau, he frequently appeared at tent meetings all over Roseau County.

It is unclear when the Northwest Mission Association first became involved with these services in Warroad, but what makes it immediately unique was its use of female missionaries from the very start. Rather than fulltime preachers overseeing a church building, it was women who were employed to look after the place and sometimes preach when passing missionaries and preachers were not readily available. In Warroad, missionary Edith Larson was appointed this job and did so through the winter of 1934. It was in fall of that year that a building, called the Tabernacle, was planned to be installed to host services in the winter so that outdoor meetings weren't necessary (Pioneer  09/20/1934). 

The Gospel Tabernacle, as they began calling themselves, became known for its tent services and charismatic teaching styles. Churches from the area frequently encouraged their congregations to attend and learn more about Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Tent meetings in the spring and summer included many passing preachers from across Minnesota, and even some from neighboring states. Very little changed with the church's style of preaching between 1934–1936. In November 1936, Warroad was the host city for the Northwest Mission Association of Minnesota, with Edith Larson serving as the host missionary. 

It wasn't until 1937 that the church grew from holding weekly tent services to having an official church congregation. This change was precipitated by the loss of Miss Larson as the resident missionary, as she left due to ill health. The position was passed officially to Rev. Anderson of Roseau, who was married to Margaret Gustafson (daughter of G. A. Gustafson of Pence) only a month before the pair moved to Warroad. By this time, the church was now being called the Gospel Mission Tabernacle. 

Rev. Anderson remained in charge of the church until late 1939, though he planned to remain in Warroad and would occasionally return to the pulpit when required. He officially retired from ministry in 1957 and passed away in 1961 at the age of 74.

The church then installed Pastor Samuel Diskerud to the newly-named Covenant Gospel Mission (be warned: the name will change again) in November 1939. Rev. Diskerud was a long-time member of the Northwest Mission Association, serving with its extension department in Big Falls, MN. He came to Warroad with his wife, Leone, and their three children, Phyllis, Richard, and Marlin. He planned to erect a formal church building while in Warroad to serve the community.

The new church was under construction in June 1940, with Rev. Diskerud and Rev. Wadena doing much of the work. During this time, Pastor Diskerud and his wife continued serving as itinerant pastors at local tent services, as did Rev. Wadena. The new building was completed in late 1940, just in time for their Christmas services. Around the same time, a women's group formed within the church known as the Dorcas Society (the church was now being called the Mission Covenant Church), and they held bake sales and fundraisers to support the building of the church and provided meals for local families and congregational events (WP  10/31/1940). 

Warroad Mission Covenant Church on West Lake Street, 1950s

The new church was located on West Lake Street, cost about $3,000 (current USD: $60,000+), and measured 24x44 feet. It housed a small tower and two floors, and adjoined with the church's parsonage in the rear, where Rev. Diskerud's family lived, and next to the site where the former Tabernacle building was before it was deconstructed in October 1939. The church was dedicated into service in spring 1941, and celebrations included a series of guest speakers of the Northwest Mission Association and from the local religious community within Warroad. One evening even featured musical entertainment from a local gospel singing group. The first wedding to take place in the building was that of Ruth Carlson and Fred Harder in July 1941.

In 1941, the pastor at the Covenant Mission Church in Spooner left and Rev. Diskerud took up the pulpit there, too. Eventually, he decided to accept the pastorate there and resigned from the Warroad church in June 1942. In his place came Rev. Fred and Lilly Granstrom of Big Falls, who had frequently filled in at the church when Rev. Diskerud and his family were on missions and preaching tours elsewhere. A farewell party for the family was given at the end of June and then the pair were gone. Rev. Diskerud passed away in 1975 at the age of 71 in Crow Wing, MN.

Pastor Fred Granstrom overseeing a confirmation class at Herndon Covenant Church, KS, 1959

Shortly after Pastor Granstrom left, Rev. Casper Bensen of Seattle, Washington moved to town to fill the position. Rev. Bensen was known to frequent many gospel meetings across the country and was married to the sister of Rev. Sam Diskerud, though her name is unknown to this author. The family arrived in September 1942, immediately forming prayer meetings, Sunday School classes, Ladies' Aid meetings, and other services for the Mission Covenant community. 

In July 1943, the church welcomed missionary Joel Johnson of the Red River Valley to discuss his service in China. This was a rather dangerous time to be a missionary anywhere, what with the war effort ongoing, but especially in China, where war in the Pacific was compounded by an ongoing civil war between the Chinese Communists under Mao Zedong and Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek. Johnson spoke about his time spent in a Japanese prison camp, his release secured in exchange for the return of some Japanese nationals the US was holding (WP  07/08/1943). A few years after this meeting, missionary Martha Anderson, the daughter of Roseau pastor Rev. A. G. Anderson, and two others were martyred in China in 1948 (WP  01/22/1948).

The Bensens remained in Warroad until mid-1945, when Rev. Bensen was called to Centerville, Iowa to serve at the local parish there. Fortunately, another pastor was already acquired and swiftly took over the pulpit in June. George Theodore Johnson was born in Marcus, Iowa in 1914 and attended the Minnehaha Bible Institute and Bethel College, achieving his ministry degree in 1944, just prior to coming to Warroad. As a young, lively man, Rev. Johnson was a welcomed addition to the Evangelical tradition. Within a few months, he was participating in local sermon series in churches around Roseau County. 

Rev. George T. Johnson

In 1947, Rev. Johnson married local girl Ruby Carlson (daughter of Elmer Carlson), and the pair went on to have six children: Linda, Shirley, Eunice, Patty, Brian, and Gary. They saw to the maintenance of the church building and to securing visiting pastors to host sermons at the church. Guest speakers were a frequent and common occurrence for the Covenant Church, and it speaks to the type of worship and service that revivalism and Evangelicalism brought to the United States in the twentieth century. Missionaries to places in Africa, Asia, and South America, former pastors of all variety of churches in Warroad, Roseau County, and the United States, and even some speakers from Canadian churches were constant presences during weekend services. In 1948, the first pastor of the church, Rev. Anderson, returned to host what was called an "Indian Bible Conference" which brings to mind the early tent revival services and the work of Rev. George Wadena, the latter of whom also continued to make appearances in Warroad (George Wadena passed away in 1967 in Warroad, where he was living at the local nursing home prior to his death. He was survived by his wife, Josephine, and five children, Angeline (Weaver), Leonard, Lawrence, Alrick, and Gean (Accobee)).

In 1951, Rev. Johnson joined with Rev. Ekeberg (Union Church), Rev. Ortmann (Woodland Mennonite), and Rev. Lundeen (Zion Lutheran) in forming the Warroad Ministerial Association, an organization which allows the community's pastors and church leadership to support local church programs, gather resources, and organize community-wide religious services. Rev. Johnson remained a part of this group until he resigned in September of that year, at which point he had accepted the pastorate in Rush City, Iowa. He went on to receive a graduate degree from Bethel Seminary School and was officially ordained in 1954. He passed away in 1971 in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. 

In his stead came Rev. Lloyd Flint of Kennedy, MN and his wife. He attended Wheaton College in Illinois where he received his degree in ministry just prior to taking up the post at Warroad. In the short time he was here, Rev. Flint helped update the church building by redecorating the interior, including new paint and light fixtures. Before leaving Warroad in late August 1952, he oversaw the confirmation exercises for Beatrice, Eloda, Lilyan, and Paul Grover, Paul Hastings, Elsie and Donald Olson, and Audrey, Mary, and Paul Smith. The Flints left Warroad after a year for North Park Seminary in Chicago. He later became pastor at the Palmyra Covenant Church in rural Hector, MN. He passed away in 1987 at the age of 74 and is buried in the Palmyra Covenant Church Cemetery.

Rev. Laverne F. and Katherine Sandberg of Siren, Wisconsin came shortly after. They settled nicely into the Warroad community, finding a home and a welcome parish, although there is very little information about his first few years in the church. He performed the wedding of Ramon Friesner and Mary Battles (daughter of Art Battles) of Roosevelt in 1954 and helped organize Vacation Bible Schools with teachers Marvin Wells, Molly Garcia, and Iris Zander of the Bethany Fellowship Christian Training School, Thelma Unruh of Munich, ND, and Virginia Meyers of Warroad (WP  06/09/1954). Family nights were introduced in early 1954, with music provided by local talent and preaching by various passing preachers. Evangelist Clarence D. Anderson from the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church of America hosted a series of meetings in March of that year and Rev. Truman B. Holsather did likewise. 

The Sandbergs left Warroad in the fall of 1954. Rev. Sandberg accepted a position in Taopi, MN. In 1955, Rev. Sandberg's son,  Lowell, married local girl Edna Mattson (daughter of Valentine Mattson) in a ceremony performed by his father in their home in Des Moines, IA. Rev. Sandberg went on to pastor at the Covenant Church in Harcourt, Iowa and passed away in 1986 at the age of 78.

Rev. Daniel Todd was installed into the pulpit in October 1954 by Elmer Larson, superintendent of the Northwestern Mission Covenant Association. Rev. Todd came from Cotton township in Minnesota, and at the time he was married with two teenaged children. Like the other pastors, Rev. Todd jumped immediately into service at the church. He attended local and distant evangelical conferences, brought in missionaries and evangelists to speak during church and evening services, and he allowed the church youth to host evening services once in a while. And, just like the others, documentation about the goings on within the church were relatively few and far between. What we do know is that Rev. Todd served through the end of the decade, leaving in late October 1959 to take on the pastorate at a rural church near Staples, MN.

It took several months before a new pastor arrived on the scene. Rev. Wesley Morris of Chicago was called to the region to serve at both the Mission Covenant Church and the Baudette Covenant Church. Born in 1925 in Shanghai, China to missionary parents, Rev. Morris' life seemed destined for Christian teaching. He graduated from Wheaton College with a bachelor's degree in sociology and went on to Wheaton Graduate School to complete his Master's of Christian Education. He was ordained into the Salvation Army in Chicago, but his life would take a different path when he went into ministry full time. The Covenant Churches in Warroad and Baudette were his first pastorates.

Rev. Morris came with his wife, Lorraine, and their four sons: Mike, Doug, John, and Jim (they would later add their fifth child, Mary). He arrived in July 1960 and served at a unified service of both congregations. He would split his time between the two churches, hosting sermons in Warroad every other Sunday, and the Young People's group of the church hosting services when he was away. 

Rev. Morris left sometime in late 1961–early 1962, possibly to the pulpit at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Baudette, before moving on to Rainy River, Ontario, Chicago, and finally, Calgary, Alberta. He passed away there in 2012 at the age of 86. The open pulpit in Warroad was briefly filled by Rev. Peter Penner, Pastor Don Palmquist of William, and a few others from around Warroad while the church sought a new pastor. 

It was not until 1965 that things within the church picked back up again with the arrival of Rev. Leonard W. Lindholm. Rev. Lindholm graduated from North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1928 and served in pastorates in Chicago, Aberdeen, Washington, and Thief River Falls. He left TRF in 1957 and temporarily served as interim pastor for Covenant Churches in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minneapolis, and Roseau before accepting the pastorate in Warroad fulltime. Just prior to taking over the pulpit, Rev. Lindholm married Margaret Elizabeth Anderson (nee Gustafson), the widow of Rev. C. G. Anderson, who passed away in 1961. At the time, Margaret was teaching at the Roosevelt Public School. 

Warroad Mission Covenant Church, just before the name change

His first order of business was to hold the annual Covenant Church officers election. A. M. Fast was elected to Chairmen of the church board, Mrs. Harvey Wilmar as Secretary, Margaret Lindholm as Sunday School Superintendent, Harvey Wilmar as Assistant Superintendent of Sunday School, Helen Grover as President of the Ladies' Mission Circle, Harvey Wilmar as Trustee, and Karen Harder as the church pianist (WP  01/13/1965). It was also at the end of January 1965 that Rev. Lindholm began what would become a long-lasting theme of his Sunday messages: prophecies. In a series of 5 evening messages in spring 1965, Rev. Lindholm spoke on "Comparisons of the Last Days of Two Ages," "Interpreting Signs of the Times," "Signals Ahead of the Storm," "The Emergence of 'That Man of Sin'," and "An Open Door in Heaven." Guest speaker Pastor Arthur Bergman was called on to speak that June, as he was considered "an ardent student of prophecy," and in September, Lindholm's sermons continued to look at prophets in the Old Testament of the Bible. 

It was around this time that the church became known as the Evangelical Covenant Church. Although this name was used interchangeably with Mission Covenant Church, the switch seems to have been made completely by 1965, as that is the name most used going forward.

In July 1966, the church celebrated its 25th anniversary. Paul W. Anderson of the Northwest Covenant Conference out of Minneapolis was a guest speaker, and so was former pastor Rev. Sam Diskerud. The church hosted a prayer and praise evening on Thursday, July 14, followed by Rev. Diskerud's address on Friday, an informal supper on Saturday, and further sermons by Rev. Diskerud and Lindholm on Sunday (WP  07/06/1966). A month later, Pastor Theodore Kronberg of Roseau spoke as another former interim pastor at the church around 1960. 

Over the next year, a variety of evangelists and missionaries spoke at the church while Rev. and Mrs. Lindholm were kept quite busy with their own evangelistic work and Margaret's return to school. It would continue on this way through the next few years, until Rev. Lindholm resigned from the pastorate here in 1969. He did not plan to move away, but rather to continue work within the church and to travel to churches around the region. He would continue to occasionally take up the pulpit both at the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Roosevelt Church of God, whose pastor would also preach often at the Covenant Church. By 1971, Rev. Paul Shrock assumed the pastoral role at the Covenant Church. Rev. Schrock and his wife came from Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and planned to stay through the summer of 1971. In addition to the Covenant Church, he also assumed pastoral duties at the Roosevelt Church of God. This set into motion the eventual merging of these two churches. 

The Roosevelt Church of God has always been connected to the Covenant Church, as their services were run in similar styles, they often hosted many of the same speakers, and the pastors of both churches frequently preached at the other. 

History of the Roosevelt Church of God is sometimes difficult to track, but we have done the best we can to pull together the facts as we know them about the church's lifespan. Because of the nature of the church's denomination, pastors were frequently coming and going, as most were missionaries or traveling evangelists—in spirit, if not in profession—and therefore it is often the case that we know very little about the men's histories, as trying to track them down before or after their time in Roosevelt is almost impossible. Many names listed in this history appear in the books of the Covenant Churches of America records, showing their church of employment at the time of the record's publishing date. As with the Warroad Covenant Church, the Roosevelt Church of God was one centered on revivalism, mission work, and constant activity. So, although pastors came and went at this church in a dizzying fashion, it should not be viewed as the picture of a chaotic or dying church, but rather a church that found fulfillment in the practice of transient evangelism rather than the permanence of a church building. This can be said about both the Warroad Covenant Church and the Roosevelt Church of God.

Evangelical services first began at the Church of God in 1932, as the Great Depression was sweeping across the United States. The first pastor was Rev. W. George Johnson (not to be confused with the Covenant Chuch's Rev. George T. Johnson), of whom we know almost nothing. The first church notice appeared in July, announcing that they would be hosting speaker Rev. Lloyd Flint of Milwaukee—possibly the same Rev. Flint who took over the Warroad Covenant Church between 1951–1952.

News from the church goes relatively quiet for the next several years, though they are listed as hosting "unified services" frequently. It is unknown when or why Rev. Johnson left the church, but the next recorded pastor was Elsie Hehr. As  we noted before, female missionaries and preachers were frequently charged with overseeing the evangelical churches in the early years. It is unclear when she began at the Church, but she was reported to have left the church with a farewell sermon in September 1937. After leaving Roosevelt, Hehr traveled to the West Indies as a missionary. She later served on the Church of God Missionary Board, as well as being part of the leadership of the Women of the Church of God North Dakota chapter in her later years. Elsie passed away in 1995 at the age of 84 in Polk County, MN and is buried in Grand Forks, ND.

Elsie Hehr, 1940s
(Source: Robert A. Nicholson University Library, Anderson University)

The next overseer of the church was Rev. Florence Pautz in 1938. Rev. Pautz and her sister, Violet, helped form the Roosevelt Women's Christian Temperance Union in early 1938. The women also oversaw repairs on their church building in mid-1939, involving new pews and repainting the interior. It is unknown where this church was located (please let us know in the comments if you know!). They spent two years in Roosevelt before the sisters left to unknown places.

Florence E. Pautz and husband, Alfred Pautz

In 1940, a funeral announcement for James Roy Turner of Roosevelt states that it took place at the Roosevelt Church of God. Rev. O. B. Bailey is noted as being the attending pastor there. Rev. Bailey is a frequent figure in the church's history, often serving as an interim pastor there when the church was without. While overseeing the pastorate, Rev. Bailey and his son, Donald Chase, and Anton Carlson were all involved in a car accident at an intersection near Carlson's farm in Roosevelt. Rev. Bailey was the worst hurt in the accident and was rushed to the newly-built Warroad hospital with severe head trauma. Luckily, he survived and made it back to full health after a few months.

Rev. I. T. Mark arrived from Antwerp, Ohio to take over the Church of God in May 1940. Rev. Mark continued to serve as an evangelist while counting Roosevelt as his home church. For instance, in April 1941, he spent three weeks in Seattle, WA at a revivalist conference. He remained in Roosevelt only a year before the family moved to Ashburn, WA to take up the parsonage of another Church of God. 

The church's next known pastor was Rev. L. C. Neal in January 1944. Rev. Neal was most known for starting the short-lived Roosevelt Tidings newspaper, with its first volume running in April 1944, printed by the Warroad Pioneer. The purpose of the newspaper was to provide the city of Roosevelt with its own newspaper for the first time in over a decade. Rev. Neal stated that "for some time I have felt that a paper that would serve the interests of the entire community would be a good thing." He wrote the first editorial of the four-page paper and fundraised from local merchants to support the cost of printing (WP  04/13/1944). 

In the first edition, the editor (Rev. Neal) requested that people send news items to him for print, but that articles may be rejected if it went "against the principles of Christianity." The paper's policy was "to followed the teachings of the Word of God and to help others who may want to do likewise. We believe that the principles taught therein are practical for everyday living. We believe that Christianity is not just a creed to be subscribed to one day a week but a life to be lived every moment. We believe it to be as vital as the pulsation of the heart, therefore everything we do can and must be Christian," (Roosevelt Tidings  04/10/1944). 

Each edition of the paper contained a sermon written by Rev. Neal, and the paper gives us a few more tidbits about the Church of God that are missing from the Pioneer. The paper quickly became a weekly affair, as many people seemed to enjoy the articles and the price was free for all, funded by free-will donations of readers. Some of those donors included Rev. Arthur Ortmann of the Warroad Mennonite Church, Otto Grill, A. J. Landby, William Bernard, Adolph Oseid, Ole Ravendalen, and James Jewel, as well as a myriad of others over the months. 

One of the more touching articles of the paper appeared on June 9, 1944, just three days after D-Day in Normandy, France:

"Several came to the Church of God Tuesday, both at 2:00 o'clock and at 8:00 o'clock when prayer was offered for the success of the invasion of western Europe, which in reality means liberation. Prayer also was offered for the armies in every theater of action. The doors [of the church] will be open every day for prayer until victory is won. The hours of 10:00 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. have been set aside as hours of special prayer. If you cannot be at the church at these hours, you can pray wherever you are." (Tidings  06/09/1944) 

The final edition appeared a week later, June 16, 1944. Rev. Neal stated that there was money available for anyone willing and desiring to continue the paper.  The reason for the stopping of the paper was that Rev. Neal and his family were leaving the area for Lenora, Kansas. His farewell sermon at the Church of God contained his testimony of faith and life story, told to friends and congregants, and one final message of hope as the war continued on overseas. 

Following him was Rev. F. C. Kinder, who served the church from November 1944–February 1945, before he left for St. Joseph, Missouri. Then there was Rev. Hutton of Nebraska, who arrived in August 1945, though it is unclear how long he stayed. Rev. Bailey once again assumed control of the pastorate until 1948, when the church called Rev. R. W. Bushall of Rapid City, SD to Roosevelt.

Rev. Bushall was a young man at this time, a recent graduate from college, and the community seemed excited to meet him. Unfortunately, only about a month after arriving in the area, Rev. Bushall was taken to the Warroad Hospital and then rushed to the Sister Kenny Hospital in Minneapolis. According to the Minnesota Historical Society, "The Sister Kenny Institute was founded in 1942 as a rehabilitation-based treatment center for polio patients. In the 1940s and 1950s, polio was one of the most widespread and dreaded childhood diseases in the world. Affected children and young adults traveled from across the globe to be treated by the Institute's founder, Australian nurse Elizabeth Kenny. The Institute also offered courses for nurses and physical therapists who wanted to be trained in the Kenny Method. After the polio vaccine was developed in 1955, the Sister Kenny Institute's mission expanded to include rehabilitation medicine in general." (MNopedia)

Polio was rampant during this time across the country, and it was no different in northwest Minnesota. Roosevelt and Warroad were overrun with polio cases, and Rev. Bushall was unlucky enough to take ill. He spent about a month at the institute before returning home in late November 1948, but it was unclear when or if he would be able to return to service, though Roosevelt's health officer, Dr. L. O. Pearson, stated that his recovery was going well.

Rev. Bushall did not remain long in the area, and by late 1949, the church welcomed Rev. D. J. Shaffer of Portland, OR to the pulpit. Rev. Shaffer brought a bit of stability with him, as he remained in Roosevelt for the next few years. In 1951, he helped the community organize a Boy Scout troop in Roosevelt under the church's direction. Once again, the church hosted evangelist meetings and numerous special services. In early 1952, Rev. Shaffer oversaw the complete remodel of a portion of the church, adding two more Sunday School rooms and repainting the interior. Further revival meetings in April saw the return of Rev. I. T. Mark as a special guest speaker.

Around 1953, Rev. Shaffer and his family left Roosevelt. Once again, Rev. Bailey was called to serve as the supply pastor until a new one could be called. He stayed in this position through 1954, though he and his wife took an extended trip early in 1954 to visit relatives out west (during their absence, the Mission Covenant Church pastor, Rev. Sandberg, stepped in as interim pastor). 

1954 was the year that Rev. Fisk Foster and his wife, Erna, arrived in Roosevelt. Born in December 1911 in Kentucky, Rev. Foster began his Christian journey at the Chicago Evangelistic Institute in the 1920s and was ordained there. He came to Roosevelt from Robbinsdale, MN, though it is believed that the Church of God was his first pastoral job. 

His work at the Church of God was in fits and starts. In late December 1955, he and his wife were reported to have moved to Goodrich, ND for another pastoral job, and services at the Church of God halted for some time. About once a month, Foster would return to perform services, and in 1957, he became employed at Marvin Windows in Warroad and returned to preaching on Sundays in Roosevelt. In conjunction with Rev. Ortmann of the Warroad Mennonite Church, he began hosting frequent movie nights at the church, showing gospel films that are near impossible to find today.

Rev. Foster continued in this vain through 1960 and in 1961, he and his family again departed for Summerville, MO to take on another church. Services were temporarily performed by Rev. Ortmann, Rev. Morris and Rev. Penner of the Warroad Covenant Church, and even a very young Ben Skrivseth, who was involved with the Roosevelt Mennonite church which later became Dayspring Chapel. The Fosters weren't gone long, however, as in April 1962, the Pioneer welcomed them back to Roosevelt and his job at Marvin Millworks. 

Rev. Foster continued to preach through 1966, though not as frequently as before. The church disappears from the Pioneer directory around 1965, and so does the Roosevelt news section, making it difficult to track just what was occurring there between 1965–1966. Rev. W. Findley served as pastor over the summer of 1968, but Foster returned that fall. He would frequently fill in at the Warroad Covenant Church after Pastor Lindbohm left in 1969. Rev. Foster went on to pastor at churches in Missouri and Illinois, and he passed away in 1989 at the age of 79. His son, Charles Foster, was still living in Warroad at that time. 

As the churches began to combine services, host similar speakers, and even share pastors (Rev. Paul Shrock and Rev. Fisk Foster), the path to a merging of the churches was laid. At the end of 1971, services began to be held jointly, until finally, in November, the Warroad Pioneer begins listing them together, with each individual service detail including where the meeting place would be (WP  11/03/1971). 

In October 1972, the Evangelical Church welcomed Pastor Sheldon Lorenson of Strathcona, MN and his wife, from Badger. He was a graduate of St. Paul Bible College with a degree in Missions in 1970. He was employed at Marvin Windows when he was contacted to take up the pulpit at the Evangelical Covenant Church. Lorenson split his time between Warroad and Roosevelt, managing the churches there to the best of his abilities. In 1973, he married Claudette Kjersten and the pair welcomed their son Timothy in 1976. 

In early 1973, he began planning to update the church building in Warroad. In 1974, the church began construction on a new sanctuary which would house more people. The plans also called for a remodeling of the exterior of the building. Most of the work was completed by congregants of the church, save for a hired carpenter to build the building's framework. It was planned that the first service in the new sanctuary would take place on Easter Sunday, April 14. The new building was formally dedicated into service in May 1975.

Pastor Lorenson overseeing construction on the new sanctuary, 1974

Front view showing construction of sanctuary addition, 1974

Pastor and Mrs. Lorenson left Warroad in 1977 to accept the pastoral position in Viking, MN. They currently reside in Osceola, Iowa where he is senior pastor at the Faith Fellowship Church.

Pastor Sheldon and Claudette Lorenson, 2022

The church formally called Pastor Leslie "Les" Dick of North Dakota by way of Haiti in 1977. Pastor Dick and his wife, Susan, were first and foremost missionaries in Haiti, and had been for twenty-two years by 1977. The pair were both originally from Munich, ND and later joined the West Indies Mission. Les served in the US Army during World War II and saw action in Italy. He attended Bible School in Canada prior to being ordained and sent to Haiti. In an incredible report by Bernice Johnson, it is noted that Pastor Dick caught TB whilst in Haiti in 1964, after Hurricane Cleo. Together they had seven children, the two youngest (Peter and Curtis) graduating from Warroad High School. Pastor Dick had never pastored at his own church prior to coming to Warroad, and he only planned to stay stateside for two years before returning to the missions field (WP  01/05/1977). As promised, the pair stayed in Warroad until mid-1979 and then returned to Haiti. He would serve in the missions field through 1984, and the family moved back to Munich until 2000. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 92 in Florida.

Pastor Leslie Dick, 1977

Pastor David McDowell took over in September 1979. He was born in 1961 in Iron Mountain, Michigan. He grew up in Kingsford, Michigan and attended Northern Michigan University and received a bachelor's in education before moving on and receiving a Master of Divinity from North Park College and Theological Seminary in Chicago. 

In the early 1980s, the church once again hosted several renowned missionaries and evangelists. It hosted Karen Peterson, a missionary with the "Women in Zaire" Covenant missions team, teaching in Zaire (now called Democratic Republic of the Congo); Harry Westerberg, a missionary to Japan in the 1950s serving a two-year special assignment in Taiwan; and Dennis and Joyce Davenport, an evangelist couple who performed gospel music across the country. 

Pastor McDowell married Diane Mott in 1980 while pastoring in Warroad. He continued on at the church until sometime in the fall of 1984. He would go on to pastor at churches in Albert Lea, MN and settled in Ellsworth, Wisconsin where he passed away in 2014 at the age of 62.

Then came Pastor Justin and Hazel Dokken. Justin was born in 1915 in Antler, North Dakota. He married Hazel Almaas in 1942 and went on to attend the Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis and the Lutheran Brethren Seminary in Fergus Falls. The couple went on to have two children. Prior to coming to Warroad, he served in Evangelical Covenant churches in Minnesota, Wisconisn, Kansas, and Nebraska. He officially retired in 1980 in Alexandria, MN and served only as a visiting pastor at different regions in the midwest. In 1982 and 1983, he served temporarily at the Covenant church in Baudette.

In 1984, Rev. Dokken stepped in as interim pastor while the church worked to secure a new one. Despite being retired, Rev. Dokken worked hard to maintain the engagements of the church throughout 1984 and into 1985. The pair left Warroad with a farewell dinner in  May 1985 and moved further south. Pastor Dokken passed away in 2000 in Annandale, MN at the age of 85, and Hazel passed away eleven years later in 2011 at the age of 94.

Pastor Lorenson returned as an interim pastor during the summer of 1985, in between terms as a missionary in South America. Various locals also assumed the pulpit during this time, but a fulltime pastor was not confirmed until late 1987.

Pastor Jim Shea, his wife Diane, and their three children: Amy Jo, Patrick, and Michael, came to Warroad in October 1987. Jim grew up near Barnsville, MN and met Diane just out of high school. Jim suffered injury from a motorcycle accident soon after and it was during his recovery that he and his wife became Christians. The pair both attended Northwestern College in St. Paul. He graduated with a degree in Pastoral Studies and became Youth Director of the New Testament Fellowship in Lakeville, MN. While there, he taught at a Vacation Bible School while Diane directed programing. He later attended Winnipeg Theological Seminary in Canada and received his Master of Divinity. Though he served in several Covenant Churches before, Warroad was the first time he'd be senior pastor of a church (WP  11/04/1987). 

Pastor Jim and Diane Shea with Amy, Patrick, and Michael

Things went well for the next year at the church, and then in January 1989, a member of the church fell into dangerous trouble.

Richard Grover's time as a missionary began in 1966, when Rev. Lindholm oversaw the farewell service of two young people from the congregation. Karen Harder was planning to attended Rio Grande Bible Institute in Texas to study language in preparation of joining the missions field overseas. Likewise, Richard Grover was about to graduate from Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada, and planned to enter the missions field thereafter. In 1989, Richard, his wife Charleen, and their daughter Mary were serving as a missionary family with the Gospel Mission Union in Colombia, South America. 

During the evening of January 3, 1989, Richard, then 50 years old, and another missionary, Roy Libby, were abducted by Colombian guerrillas. At the time of the abduction, Richard and Roy were attending a missions meeting in the town of La Florida. This was in the era of the Medellin Drug Cartel under the control of Pablo Escobar, and drug smuggling, political terrorism, and social fear was a constant presence in Colombia. The purpose of the abduction was to demand the release of convicted cocaine leader Carlos Lehder Rivas in Florida. 

The Gospel Mission Union informed Richard parents, William and Helen Grover of Warroad, that the family and any Christian friends should pray and continue to do so. Charleen and Mary were reported safe, though worried for the fate of their husband and father. Many churches in the area began hosting prayer meetings for the Grover family, including the Woodland Mennonite and Union Congregation churches, but none so fervently as the Covenant Church. 

It would be two months before Grover was finally released to safety. Rev. Paul Nash of the Warroad Free Lutheran Church, who talked to a spokesman of the Gospel Mission Union, relayed the message that "Mr. Libby and Mrs. Grover were released Sunday evening March 12 in the area called La Florida, Colombia near where they had been taken captive. They had been held 63 day and had been moved 20 times mostly during the night hours," (WP  03/15/1989). Both Grover and Libby reported that they were treated well and were largely unharmed during the 63-day ordeal. The two men gathered their families and immediately departed for Ecuador and planned to return to the States. 

In April, a giant WELCOME HOME sign welcomed the Grover family to town as they arrived to meet with the community at the Warroad High School gym. Richard relayed his thanks for the many prayers and blessings of the community. He and his family would continue to serve as missionaries in South America for the next few decades. After Charleen's death in 1995, Richard remarried and today lives in semi-retirement with his wife, Carol Lynne, in Georgia.

It is unclear when Pastor Shea left the Covenant Church, but his absence is noted after the Richard Grover incident. By 1990, interim pastors were frequent in the church and the church hours of operation were changed to account for the absence of a full time pastor. In July 1990, former pastor Rev. Schaffer of the former Roosevelt Church of God visited the area and stated that he and other former members of the church "were saddened by the fact that there [was] no longer any Church of God churches in the local area," (WP  07/17/1990). 

The pulpit remained empty in late 1990, and services were left in the care of chairmen of the church board, William Olson. For a few months, the church sought another pastor, but it seemed that none were forthcoming. On March 10, 1991, the Covenant Church held its final service.

A few months later, in July, the church was sold to the Church of Christ in Warroad, a brand new entity led by Pastor Dale Blanshan of Brainerd, MN. The Church of Christ is an interesting organization because it, too, is connected to the Great Awakenings in the United States, though rather than pursuing new methods of worship and revivalism, the Church of Christ desired to bring denominations back into unity with one another by returning to the basic principles of the Bible and early church doctrine. This dichotomy between the Covenant Churches and the Church of Christ sharing a building in central Warroad certainly makes for an interesting discussion. However, there is very little information known about the Church of Christ during its lifespan.

Church notice, 1996

Dale Blanshan graduated from the Midwestern School of Evangelism in Iowa and also attended the University of Minnesota to practice Law. He described himself as "a full time preacher and a part time lawyer," (WP  07/30/1991). He moved to Warroad with his wife, Linda, and their seven children: Jeannie, Bobby, Carrie, Betsy, Jessica, Peggy, and Polly. They resided in the upstairs area of the former Evangelical Church building. 

Pastor Dale Blanshan, now a historian and lecturer online and on various cruise liners

Pastor Blanshan remained in Warroad until mid-2000, at which time he and his family moved away. Warroad local Michael Trott took up the pulpit in mid-July 2000 and continued there until the church finally closed its doors in late 2008. The building on West Lake Street was eventually demolished and the lot is now used for residential purposes, bringing the legacy of the Covenant Church in Warroad, the Church of God in Roosevelt, and the short-lived Church of Christ to a close.

Warroad Church of Christ as it looked before demolition, 2000s

Because much of the personal information about pastors was not included in the files at the WHC, we are indebted to the following organizations and people for information: Renville County Historical Society, Webster County Historical Society, Anderson University Robert A. Nicholson Library, Karen Sandberg Vote and Martha Sandberg Newell, Pastor Sheldon Lorenson, Pastor Jim Shea, and Rena Doebler.

~Erin Thompson, Museum Manager