On a quiet stretch of Olinda Trail in Scandia, Minnesota, a congregation that predates statehood still gathers every Sunday morning. Elim Lutheran Church was organized on May 18, 1854 as Marine Country Church by Dr. Erland Carlson and a handful of Swedish immigrant families, and the parish has never really left. Six sanctuaries have stood on or near this hilltop, three of them lost to fire and one to a tornado. The current red-brick sanctuary was raised from the ashes of the 1930 blaze and now anchors a campus that includes two historic cemeteries, a preschool, a food shelf, and a fellowship hall where coffee is poured every Monday morning by men with Bibles open on the table.
Six Sanctuaries, One Address
The earliest sanctuary was a 20 by 30 foot log building erected in 1856; it was moved to what is now the Gammelgarden Museum across the street and is still preserved there. A second, larger log structure went up in 1860 on the cemetery grounds. By 1874 the parish had a sawn-board church with an eighty-foot steeple. A tornado destroyed it in 1884. A brick sanctuary with gas lights, a tin ceiling, and Swedish inscriptions on the altar wall followed in 1885, and the congregation took the name Elim in 1895, taking the biblical oasis of Exodus 15:27 ("Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees") as its own. The 1898 pipe organ and pre-1918 art glass windows are still remembered; fire claimed that building in 1907.
The fifth sanctuary, built in 1908, brought back the pipe organ, stained glass, a carved altar and pulpit, and a Thorvalsen Christ statue imported for the altar. A second fire in 1930 gutted the structure, though the statue, pews, pulpit, and altar carving were saved. The present worship space, the parish's sixth and current sanctuary, was built from those ashes. Major additions followed in 1965 (classrooms, kitchen, fellowship hall), 1977 (elevator, refinements), and 1999 (fellowship hall expansion, classrooms, and preschool space).
The organ has its own long story. After a 1985 rebuild and enlargement by M. P. Moller as Opus 10927, the pipe organ contains 30 ranks, with 21 ranks in the balcony and 9 hidden behind the Christ figure. A capital campaign is currently underway to rebuild and expand the organ further.
Sunday Worship, the Year Round
Sunday worship is the heart of Elim. From September through May, the 8:00 am service is held in the main sanctuary, with the 9:30 am service following in the same space and live streamed on YouTube. During the summer, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, the 8:00 am service moves across the street to the Gammelkyrkan, the original 1856 log sanctuary preserved at the Gammelgarden Museum. The 9:30 am service remains in the sanctuary and continues to be live streamed year round.
Elim's worship is mostly traditional in style with occasional contemporary elements. The congregation sings sacred hymns and uses the historic liturgy, while leaving room for new songs. The bulletin each week opens with a prelude that helps the assembly center, and the welcome extends to all ages. Children, including the littlest ones, are encouraged to stay in worship; the sound of babble, laughter, and cries is, the parish writes, prayer itself.
Special services mark the church year. Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Wednesday Lenten services, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday are all observed, and the church maintains a tradition of Lenten mental health dinners and candlelight vigils tied to its mental wellness outreach.
What Visitors Can Expect
Visitors are welcome at Elim whether they are lifelong Lutherans, members of another tradition, or simply curious about Christ. There is no dress code; jeans are as acceptable as a suit and tie. People are invited to participate as they feel comfortable. Some sing, some prefer silence, some raise hands, some bow heads. Fist bumps and smiles are as welcome as handshakes.
The building is fully accessible. Handicap parking is available along Olinda Trail on the west side and in the south parking lot. Both main entrances have push-button doors. Two elevators serve the building: one beside the west entrance for the sanctuary, and another off the south entrance that opens near the fellowship hall. Inside the sanctuary, hearing assistance devices are available from the ushers, a ramp to the left of the pulpit gives wheelchair access to the communion rail, and communion can be brought to anyone who cannot reach the rail. Both wine and grape juice are offered at communion; those who need gluten-free bread are welcome to bring their own.
Music: Choir, Bells, and the M. P. Moller Pipe Organ
Music has always been part of Elim's identity. The Steinway grand piano, the historic bell choir, the 30-rank pipe organ, and a roster of volunteer musicians sustain a traditional program that also welcomes instrumentalists of all kinds; anyone wishing to share their gifts in worship is invited to contact the office.
The Chancel Choir rehearses at 7:00 pm on Wednesdays for seventy-five minutes, and the Bells of Elim handbell choir rehearses in the same hour block at 6:00 pm for fifty-five minutes. Both choirs are open to new members. Elim's Music and Concert Series brings regional and visiting artists into the sanctuary several times a year, with refreshments and a meet-and-greet in the fellowship hall afterwards. Past concerts have drawn Swedish folk musicians and bluegrass bands, with ticket sales and freewill offerings going toward the music program and the new pipe organ.
Baptism, Confirmation, and the Lutheran Sacraments
Elim teaches that it is one of two sacraments in the Lutheran tradition, the other being Holy Communion. Baptism is open to any age; when infants or young children are baptized, parents and sponsors make the baptismal promises on their behalf. Those promises include living among God's faithful people, hearing the word and sharing in the Lord's Supper, proclaiming the good news through word and deed, serving all people following the example of Jesus, and striving for justice and peace. The promises God makes in baptism include freedom from sin and death through joining to the death and resurrection of Christ, rebirth as a child of God and member of the body of Christ, and growth in faith, love, and obedience.
Confirmation, which the parish describes as the public affirmation of those baptismal promises, is woven into the Sunday Youth Group program and typically happens around the fall of tenth grade. Baptismal affirmation is also available at any point in life for those who wish to renew their promises; the pastor can help arrange it.
Children, Youth, and Family
The Christian Education program at Elim covers nursery through high school. Sunday School meets at 9:45 am, beginning after the children's message in worship and running through the school year. Confirmation is part of the Youth Group, and Vacation Bible School is held each summer; recent programs have used a four-day format exploring how curiosity about the world can grow into curiosity about God.
Youth Group is the main social and fellowship gathering for older students and meets on Sunday evenings during the program year, beginning with a brief parent meeting each fall. The youth room has recently been remodeled by the youth themselves. A short children's message is part of each Sunday service, and all ages are welcomed in the sanctuary.
Scandia Preschool operates on the lower level of the church as an outreach program of Elim, licensed through the State of Minnesota. Classes meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings during the school year. As part of Elim, the preschool celebrates religious holidays, incorporates Christian stories, and says a prayer before snack. All children are welcome regardless of sex, religion, or race.
Adult Education and Small Groups
Three weekly Bible studies anchor adult formation. On Monday mornings at 9:00 am, the Men's Bible Study gathers in the fellowship hall to talk about the previous Sunday's texts over coffee and treats, led by a rotating group of participants. On Tuesday evenings at 6:00 pm, the Women's Bible Study meets in the chapel for a year-long walk through the women of the Bible, with streaming video available for those who miss a session. On Tuesday mornings at 7:00 am, the men who cannot get enough coffee meet at the Scandia Cafe for fellowship and discussion.
Elim also hosts an open Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at 7:00 pm each Monday in the lower level, with the south parking lot and preschool entrance as the easiest access. The Saturday morning Caring Hearts grief and loss support group, led by Pastor Richard Baumann, runs in thirteen-week cycles and is open to all ages in the wider community. The parish hosts a suicide-prevention training program and maintains a suicide-prevention resource ministry in close partnership with the Washington County Opioid Settlement Council and the parish's mental wellness outreach.
Mental Wellness and Our Stigma
Mental health is one of the most distinctive parts of the Elim identity. Pastor Perry, an ELCA pastor with a Master of Divinity and a BFA in Film Production, lives with bipolar disorder and is in recovery from addiction, and he speaks openly about that dual diagnosis to reduce stigma in faith communities. He founded Our Stigma, a ministry project focused on breaking mental health stigma in faith communities, and hosts the Our Stigma podcast in partnership with Good Faith Media, sponsored by M Health Fairview and the Washington County Opioid Settlement Council.
Through Our Stigma, Elim runs suicide-prevention training several times a year and hosts Lenten mental health dinners and candlelight vigils in the sanctuary. The parish also holds an annual PTSD awareness potluck with speakers from the Invisible Wounds Project, a Minnesota organization that provides therapy access for military, first responders, medical staff, and their families. Elim welcomes members of the wider Scandia and Saint Croix Valley community to all of these events.
Feeding the Saint Croix Valley
Elim's outreach into the surrounding community centers on the Scandia Marine Food Shelf, located on the lower level of the church with its own southeast entrance. The food shelf has been providing food with respect and dignity since 1982 and serves primarily Scandia, Marine on St. Croix, and May Township, with overflow capacity for neighbors from outside the area. The food shelf is open by appointment; those interested can reach the office for hours, and current COVID best practices have the food handed off outside as a pre-packed box.
The Elim Grows program complements the food shelf with a Green Grocery Shares program at the Scandia Farmers Market. Shareholders purchase shares that are redeemed at the Wednesday market as a kind of local currency, with a portion of each share going to provide free shares to neighbors who cannot. Volunteers plant and tend a community garden, and the Elim Grows table is the place to sign up, share prayer requests, and learn about the food shelf.
The Tuesday evening Women's Bible Study supports the Forest Lake School District's Food4Kids Backpack Program, collecting non-perishable weekend food for students in need. Elim has also hosted a Feed My Starving Children Mobile Pack at Hosanna, supporting an organization that, the parish notes, feeds a child for twenty-two cents per meal with ninety-two percent of donations going directly to food.
Shelter, Quilts, and Wider Outreach
Members of Elim serve three weeks a year at St. Andrew's Family Shelter in Hugo, providing overnight staffing for families from the surrounding communities who are experiencing homelessness while receiving case management at the Community Resource Center at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi. Volunteers must complete a background check, sign a confidentiality and safety agreement, and watch a Safe Boundaries video before serving.
The parish also has an active quilting ministry, and a library of resources about HIV and AIDS, and a Parkinson's support group through the Elim Foundation. The Elim Lutheran Church Foundation, established in 1997, manages an endowment that grants five percent of its assets each year to religious, charitable, and educational endeavors independent of Elim Lutheran Church, and offers scholarships for members attending a Christian college or trade school.
Two Cemeteries and a Columbarium
Elim manages two historic burial grounds. The larger, North Cemetery, sits across from the church and has been in use since the early 1850s, with more than 1,800 burials across 3,750 lots. South Cemetery, about half a mile south on Olinda Trail, originally belonged to a Swedish Methodist congregation that left the area around 1894 and has been managed by Elim since, with 320 burials and more than 800 lots still available.
The cemetery committee, an appointed board under the church council, oversees burials, records, perpetual care, grounds, and veteran recognition. Detailed maps of both cemeteries, organized into eleven areas in the north and five areas in the south, are available in PDF form. A columbarium, adopted by the congregation in November 2012, sits in the center of the North Cemetery and provides inurnment for cremated remains in granite-faced niches that can hold one or two sets of cremains.
The parish maintains a genealogy service led by Scott Walcker, who can search a cemetery database of more than 2,000 burials and a partial church records database for a fee of fifty dollars per hour. Records from the 1800s have been lost to the same fires and tornado that destroyed the early sanctuaries, but enough remains to help families trace their Scandinavian and American forebears.
Belonging to the Wider Church
Elim Lutheran Church is one of 106 Lutheran congregations affiliated with the Saint Paul Area Synod and one of 8,400 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), a denomination of 3.75 million baptized members. The congregation holds to the historic Lutheran understanding of baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments, the centrality of scripture, and a tradition of liturgy and hymnody that has shaped Sunday worship at Elim for more than 170 years.
Parish governance rests with a Church Council of up to sixteen members plus the pastor. Members are elected to three-year terms with a maximum of two consecutive terms, and the council meets on the third Thursday of each month, traditionally taking July off. The council also serves as trustees of the cemetery and columbarium, manages the annual budget, and oversees the capital campaign that will rebuild the pipe organ and continue expanding the campus.
Stepping Inside Elim
The easiest way to experience Elim is to show up on a Sunday morning. The 8:00 am service in summer takes place in the original 1856 log sanctuary at Gammelgarden across the street; the rest of the year, both services are in the main brick sanctuary. The 9:30 am service is live streamed on YouTube for those who want to listen in before they come. Coffee follows in the fellowship hall, Sunday School begins at 9:45 am after the children's message, and the handbell choir rehearses Wednesday evenings at 6:00 pm with the chancel choir at 7:00 pm.
For questions about baptism, funerals, weddings, cemetery plots, the preschool, or any of the dozens of ministries that make up a 170-year-old congregation, the parish office is open during the week at (651) 433-2723. Online giving, the music and concert series, the suicide-prevention training schedule, and the food shelf appointment line are all listed in one place. The doors are open to everyone, and they have been since 1854.