Zion Lutheran Church stands on a 15-acre campus along Highway 25 on the south side of Buffalo, Minnesota, a town about forty miles northwest of the Twin Cities. The congregation's roots reach back to 1866, when a small group of Swedish immigrants met at the home of Sven Erickson to organize what was then called Carlslund Evangelical Lutheran Church. Today Zion is one of nearly 9,000 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), known locally for its Sunday worship in two styles, a Marysville country church that opens its doors each summer, a music program for every age from preschool through adult, a quarter-century-and-counting handbell tradition, a busy Blessing Closet clothing ministry, and partnerships reaching from Buffalo to North Minneapolis, Jamaica, and Zambia.
A Swedish Beginning in the Big Woods
In the fall of 1866, settlers from Sweden met to consider organizing a Lutheran congregation in the Buffalo area. Two young women, Maria Moody and Helga Jonsdotter, volunteered to walk the fifteen miles through the Big Woods to Gotaholm Lutheran Church in Watertown (now Trinity Lutheran) to ask the recently ordained Pastor John S. Nelson to come and hold services. On November 7, 1866, Nelson chaired the organizational meeting at Sven Erickson's home and preached a sermon on the First Epistle to Timothy. The new church was named Carlslund Evangelical Lutheran Church, and its 27 adult charter members brought 31 children with them into the new congregation.
For its first years, the congregation met monthly when Pastor Nelson could visit. Singing was led by Nels Bonstrom, who received twenty-five cents from each family per year (later raised to fifty cents) for the work, without the aid of any instrument. In 1870 the congregation accepted a quarter-acre donation from Christian Ilstrup on the highway between Buffalo and Watertown, and a small log church was raised in the early 1870s. A second Carlslund country church of wood-frame construction with a steeple followed in 1887. By 1921, the town church had been placed on a higher foundation, a basement dug, and a chapel addition, kitchen, and sacristy built during the pastorate of Rev. E. J. Nystrom. In 1938 the old country Carlslund church was sold and razed.
At the January 9, 1945, annual meeting, the members voted to change the name from Carlslund Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. The present building on Highway 25 was dedicated on April 19, 1990, with Bishop David Olson of the Minneapolis Area Synod preaching at both services. Groundbreaking for that building was held on September 18, 1988, with over 500 members turning the soil together.
The Marysville Country Church
Zion also cares for a second, much older house of worship: the historic Marysville Church, sometimes called Swedesburg, organized in 1873 by Pastor Nelson as a sister congregation of Carlslund. The current brick building was constructed in 1891 to 1893 with brick donated by J. M. Peterson and Carl Kingsted, on a lot given by Andrew Gust Peterson. In 1973 it was restored for the centennial of the Swedesburg congregation. Each summer from June through August, Zion holds Monday evening worship at Marysville at 7 p.m., giving members and friends a chance to gather in a quieter, country setting. Communion is celebrated on the first Monday of the summer at this service. The original bell from the Marysville Church now hangs in the bell tower at Zion's present site, having been moved there in 1952 when the Swedesburg congregation was dissolved and its members joined the Buffalo church.
Sunday Mornings at Zion
Zion gathers for Sunday worship in two regular services, both held in the Sanctuary and both livestreamed on Facebook and reposted on YouTube.
The 8:30 a.m. service is the traditional liturgy, drawn from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) hymnal, with music led by the Senior Choir, the Joyful Ringers, and the KiDS choirs and handbells. It usually lasts about an hour. Holy Communion is celebrated at this service on the first and third Sundays of the month, as well as on Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Easter, and other festive days.
At 10:30 a.m. the contemporary service features the worship teams and praise-band music, with additional music from children's and youth choirs. This service also runs about an hour, includes Holy Communion on the first and third Sundays, and during the school year hosts Sunday School classes for children aged 3 through sixth grade. Students begin the hour in worship and are dismissed to Sunday School after the children's message. In the summer months, the 10:30 service moves outdoors with a drive-in option for those who prefer to stay in their cars.
On the fifth Sunday of any month, both services include a time of prayer and healing, with the prayer requests that have been gathered prayed over together.
Holy Communion
Zion practices open communion. All Christians instructed in its meaning are invited to participate at God's table, whether visitor or member. The usual pattern is communion on the first and third Sundays of the month, with extra celebrations on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Easter, Christmas Day, and other festive days of the church year. On the first Sunday, communion is typically served at the altar rails so that communicants may kneel in thankfulness. On the third Sunday and at outdoor services, communion is shared by intinction, dipping the bread into the cup. Gluten-free wafers, individual communion packs, and grape juice are always available. A communion class for children and youth is offered each year in late winter. Children who have not received communion instruction are invited to fold their hands for the blessing.
Music for Every Age
Music is woven through every Sunday at Zion. Eight music groups rehearse each Wednesday during the school year, with choirs and handbells organized for every stage from preschool through adult.
Vocal choirs include Elevate (age 4 through grade 2), Lifted (grades 3 to 6), Altared (grades 6 to 8), Heirborn (grades 9 to 12), and the Senior Choir for high school and adult singers. Handbell choirs include Ring Forth for grades 3 to 5, Class Ring for grades 6 to 12, and Joyful Ringers for high school and adult ringers. Zion's handbell ministry marked 40 years in 2023; the original three-octave set of 37 bells was purchased in 1983. Worship teams and instrumental ensembles round out the program.
Michael Walsh serves as Director of Music and Senior Choir Director, Sherilyn Burgdorf is Director of Handbells (and one of Zion's organists), and Mike Agre is Worship Coordinator. Bob Strommen coordinates the audio-visual teams that keep services running and recordings flowing.
Zion KiDS, Confirmation, and Youth
Children, youth, and family ministry is organized into three teams. Kristi Wagner and Kristin Lotthammer serve as Co-Directors of Children and Family Ministry, with Emily Comstock as Coordinator. A separate team of Co-Directors of Youth Ministry, Holly Husom and Tammy Zumbusch, oversees the middle school and high school groups.
For the youngest, nursery care is available, and Sunday School runs from age 3 through grade 5 during the 10:30 service in the school year. Vacation Bible School is a highlight of the summer. Confirmation is a three-year program for grades 6 through 8. Middle school and high school youth groups meet on Wednesday evenings, when the building fills with young people gathering for ministry, food, and fellowship. Recent events have included a 9th-grade lock-in, a Gala fundraiser, and senior spotlights for graduating high schoolers.
Women's Ministry, Prayer, and the Prayer Shawls
The Women of Zion organization gathers women of the congregation around Bible study, fellowship, and service. They provide Christ in Our Home daily devotion booklets in regular and large print and host circles and a planning team. Phyllis Bengtson and Sherilyn Burgdorf coordinate the ministry, which exists to engage women through fellowship, service, and study to encourage and strengthen faith.
For those who knit or crochet, the Prayer Shawl Ministry is a quiet, hands-on way to serve. Each shawl is begun with prayers and blessings for the recipient, and the maker continues those intentions throughout the work. The completed shawl, packaged in a gift bag, becomes a tangible reminder of God's care and is given to anyone who would be comforted by it. Completed shawls are kept at the church office and can be requested by anyone in the congregation.
Zion takes prayer seriously. The Prayer Ministry maintains a private Facebook prayer group, offers prayers for healing on the fifth Sunday, and sets aside a Prayer Room near door E at the north end of the building for meditation and quiet. Each week, staff pray for a segment of the congregation's members and worshiping friends, and anyone can submit a request through a connect card or by contacting the church office. Daily devotions are available through Luther Seminary's God Pause.
The Blessing Closet
The Blessing Closet is one of Zion's signature ministries. Called a "gap" ministry, it provides free children's and adult clothing to families in the community with no income or residency requirements to qualify. New or gently used, clean clothing and shoes are accepted on Wednesdays in a marked donation cart at the front door. Quarterly distributions are held at Zion in Trinity Hall, where thousands of items are laid out for infants, toddlers, children, and adults. In a recent year, 485 families including 1,239 children and 761 adults received 37,790 items of clothing valued at $87,540. Anything that clients cannot use is recycled, with nothing sent to landfills. The Blessing Closet works in cooperation with Love INC Big Woods, which connects Buffalo-area clients with local churches and volunteers.
SERVE Weekend, Harvest of Hands, and Local Mission
Once a year, SERVE Weekend gathers Zion members of all ages for a concentrated burst of community service. A recent SERVE Weekend logged more than 500 completed service hours, including packing and distributing items at the mobile food pantry, writing thank-you cards for school staff, making fleece blankets for Camp Noah and the Blessing Closet, completing Days for Girls kits, packing care kits for Lutheran World Relief, serving a community breakfast to 284 people, donating 105 bikes to children in partnership with Allina, mulching around the outdoor worship platform, playing bingo at Lakeridge Care Center, and ringing and singing at Parkview Care Center.
Harvest of Hands is an annual November event that began in December 1979 as a fundraiser for refugee families. What started as a craft sale, bake sale, and craft demonstrations has grown into a multi-day festival that includes a White Elephant room, brunch, silent auction, sweater sale, and Christmas Market. The proceeds have long supported efforts to end local and world hunger, including ELCA World Hunger, the Buffalo Food Shelf, Heifer Project International, and the Outreach Program's Truckload of Life. Crafters gather weekly to work on projects at church or at home, with pre-packaged kits available near the Information Desk.
Zion's other ongoing local mission partners include the American Red Cross Bloodmobile (which holds drives at the church), the Buffalo Food Shelf (supported through a year-round food cart, Easter baskets, volunteers, and Kid's Choice summer food bags packed for school-age children home for the summer), Fare for All (a cooperative purchasing program that sells discounted frozen meat and fresh produce at Zion several times a year), Timber Bay (a youth ministry supported with meals and finances), Rivers of Hope (a domestic violence initiative supported with cards and supplies), Veterans and Active Military (cards and Christmas stockings), and Meals on Wheels (Zion provides three drivers each day of June and November). Care Center Visits bring volunteers and regular devotions to nearby nursing homes.
Ukraine, Jamaica, Zambia, and North Minneapolis
Beyond Buffalo, Zion invests in a small set of long-term global mission partnerships. Since 2022, the congregation has joined with community partners to assist Ukrainian refugees arriving in the area. Over $17,000 has been contributed and more than $11,000 distributed to help six families with travel, food, housing, phones, appliances, and computers. Most recently, Zion members Dirk and Sue Foster agreed to formally sponsor a couple who received authorization to travel from Poland to Minneapolis.
Mission Jamaica, which began at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi in 1990, sends teams on week-long service trips to Jamaica, combining building one-room Ja'Bode homes, medical clinics, work at Westhaven Children's Home and Clifton Boys' Home, and teaching projects with time for reflection. Mission Zambia brings teams every other year to the Village of Hope, a 260-acre site in the bush country of Zambia where All Kids Can Learn International (AKCLI) cares for orphaned and vulnerable children in family households with Zambian "mothers," runs the accredited School of Hope, and offers a "Foundations for Farming" agricultural training program for young adults. Zion's annual golf outing has funded special projects at the Village, including the soil science lab needed for the farming program.
Closer to home, Redeemer Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis has been a partner since the 1990s, when the Minneapolis Area Synod matched congregations with mission sites. Redeemer serves as a "Beacon of Hope" in a changing neighborhood, and Zion's support includes quarterly financial gifts and the work of Redeemer Center for Life. Past global mission engagement has included support for Kelsey Mackereth as a Young Adults in Global Missions volunteer in Malaysia, a brief partnership with the Schelleng Congregation in Nigeria, and a long relationship with Dennis and Meredith Murnyak, ELCA missionaries in Tanzania, for whom Zion helped build a church in Mkuranga and supported a hospice program.
The Building, the Meditation Trail, and Memorials
The 1990 building sits on a 15-acre site south of Buffalo on Highway 25. A major addition dedicated on Palm Sunday 2005 brought an activity center, additional Sunday school rooms, more office space, and room for fellowship. A Narthex Refresh updated the entry and welcome area. A Prayer Room at the north end of the building offers a quiet place for meditation. Just south of the main parking lot, a Meditation Trail leads visitors through a themed walk of reflection, with a new theme chosen each year. The sanctuary is equipped with WiFi assistive listening for those who need hearing support.
Zion also oversees the Marysville Church and the cemetery on the original Carlslund site. The building is available for rental for meetings and events. Weddings and funerals are coordinated through Lyle Jans, and arrangements are made by contacting the church office.
What Lutherans at Zion Believe
Zion is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA confesses the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and trusts the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Lutherans at Zion also express their faith through the three historic Christian creeds common to most Christians: the Apostles' Creed, used especially in private devotions, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Together they proclaim unity with Christians around the world and throughout history, back to the ancient church. Martin Luther's Small Catechism suggested that the faithful pray the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer both morning and evening. The congregation belongs to the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA.
Pastors, Staff, and Leadership
Rev. Kari L. Bahe serves as Senior Pastor. She joined Zion to help lead the congregation through a time of transition and dreaming, with preaching, teaching, administration of the sacraments, pastoral care, strategic planning, transition bridging, and worship leadership among her duties. She counts it a privilege to serve Zion and counts her favorite time as Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, when the building fills with people of every age. Rev. Trevor Skorburg is Associate Pastor.
The broader staff includes Kristi Wagner and Kristin Lotthammer as Co-Directors of Children and Family Ministries, Emily Comstock as CFM Coordinator, Holly Husom and Tammy Zumbusch as Co-Directors of Youth Ministry, Michael Walsh as Director of Music, Sherilyn Burgdorf as Director of Handbells, Mike Agre as Worship Coordinator, and Bob Strommen as Audio Visual Coordinator. Julie Pryor serves as Administrative Assistant, Steve Peterson as Financial Administrator, and Melissa Galvin as Facility Coordinator.
The church is governed by a twelve-member Congregational Council elected at the annual meeting to three-year terms, with each member serving as liaison to a standing committee. The Foundation Committee meets quarterly to distribute the proceeds of the foundation funds, and voting members are elected to represent Zion at the annual Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly, typically a two-day gathering each spring.
Becoming a Member, Giving, and Getting Connected
Membership at Zion is open to anyone who wishes to make this their church home. Most people join by attending a New Member Orientation, held several times a year, where newcomers meet the staff and other members and receive a brief overview of Lutheran beliefs and Zion's ministries. Others become members by baptism, confirmation, or by transferring from another ELCA congregation. Voting members are confirmed members who have communed and made a financial contribution of record in the current or preceding calendar year.
Visitors on a Sunday morning will be greeted at the door and can stop by the information desk in the narthex for questions. A printed order of service is available at the door to the sanctuary, and large print bulletins and hearing devices (the sanctuary is equipped with WiFi assistive listening) are available from the ushers. People wear everything from shorts and jeans to khakis and business suits. Activity sheets and small toys for young children are available near the sanctuary. Coffee is served in and just outside Fellowship Hall after each indoor service.
Giving is welcomed through offering plates during worship, online through Breeze and InFellowship, by text to 763-335-1280, by electronic funds transfer, or by mailing a contribution to the office. The Zion Foundation and the Memorial Fund offer additional ways to support the church's ministry beyond the General Fund and Building Fund. The office is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with staff available at the information desk before and after each Sunday service.