Opportunity to make their own brought them to America in the mid-1800s and they brought their faith with them from home.
Norwegians like their churches on hilltops. I suppose because they are easy to see and don't use up the more arable flat land.
So it is in Springdale, where the successor to the original 32' x 48' structure still stands on a hill. A cemetery, resting spot for many of those early pioneers and their descendents.
The 1861 church added a steeple in 1877 that towered an additional 25 feet into the air.
The current church was built in 1895 around the steeple, it's 1,000 bell calling farmers and travelers to worship.
Church was in those early days, and has been for many years, the center of spiritual and community life. It's a center of a culture and way of life.
When it was built, travel by horse and buggy meant small towns and churches a short ride away. In our modern quest for more varied programming and offerings at church - they are larger.Larger is sometimes better and more efficient. But it can also mean the loss of the small community of friends and family that persevered hard times and celebrated the good.
We frequently attended a small country church when we lived in north Wisconsin. It was an authentic country church. There was no running water and a trip to the bathroom meant running to the outhouse.
That church is closed now. A remnant of an earlier time. A silent witness to a timeless faith.
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