HOME
Events
Civic
Gps.
Government
City
Library
Chamber
Religion
Health
School
AHS Alumni
Advocate
History
Visitors
Other
HOME > History > History Club > Kermit Lundeen & Gary Partridge - Evangelical Free Church
History of the
Evangelical Free Church
Presentation to the Annandale History
Club
- 2000
by Kermit Lundeen & Gary Partridge
Annandale Evangelical Free Church traces its beginnings to
special meetings held in a temporary tarpaper building called the
"Tabernacle." Evangelist,
Rev. Carl Lindberg, came to Annandale around 1915 and had a tabernacle
constructed on the Gene Lundeen lot near the beach on Pleasant Lake.
The tabernacle services were sponsored by members of the
Albion Free Church who were concerned about the spiritual welfare of the
Annandale community. Some of those
involved were from Annandale, but had been driving to services at the Albion and Crow
River Churches in the country.
A charter meeting for the new Annandale Evangelical Free
Church was held February 23, 1923, at the home of Alfred and Selma Brown.
Rev. Eugene Wernberg led the meeting and Walter Lundeen acted as
Secretary. The charter members
present were: Mr. & Mrs. John
Larson, Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Brown, Oscar Brown, Hannah Brown, Mr. & Mrs.
Carl Lundeen, and Mr. & Mrs. Walter Brown.
In 1925. Rev. Paul Cassel, who was at that time pastor of
the Albion Free Church, was asked to spend half of his time serving the
Annandale Church.
The group rented the German Evangelical Reformed Church, a
brick building located one block south of Brown's Ice Cream factory.
In 1930, Rev. Paul Nelson came to serve the two churches.
While he was pastor in 1932, the Annandale Church began to rent the
property of the Advent Christian Church. This
building along with seating, piano, pulpit and parsonage was purchased in 1946
and later remodeled in 1963.
During those years, the Annandale and Albion Churches
shared a pastor who was housed at the Albion parsonage. Worship services
alternated morning in one and evening in the other. A special business
meeting was held on August 10, 1943, to discuss starting a full-time work in
Annandale. As a result of this meeting, Rev. Wallace Larson was called as the
first full-time pastor in Annandale.
Over the next few decades the church continued to grow.
It saw another remodeling program, several pastors and in the mid-1980s,
under the leadership of Pastor George Klippenes, 14 acres of land were purchased
just east of town on Highway 55 where a parsonage and new church was built.
The first service in the present location was held on Christmas Eve,
December 24, 1988.
In August 1992, Rev. Dennis Johnson began serving as senior pastor. Pastor Gary Partridge, who grew up in the church, came on staff as the Associate Pastor later that same year. By the summer of 2002 a large addition including a new sanctuary was completed that tripled the size of the building.
Multiple ministries have been added over the last several
years and besides the two pastors already mentioned, the church also has a
full-time Youth Pastor - Cory Shreve, a part-time Visitation Pastor - Art
Stenberg and a part-time Children's Ministries Administrator - Susan Fiedler.
Under the present leadership, the church membership has
grown to 290 and the present average Sunday worship attendance to 420.
In 2007 we updated our mission statement to read:
To have a Heart for God, a Love for People and a Hope for the World.
As we look back over several decades of God's faithfulness,
we are deeply thankful for the Godly heritage that is ours here at Annandale
Evangelical Free Church. Our prayer
is that God will continue to use our church to reach men, women, boys and girls
for Christ as we minister in the 21st century.
Updated: February
2007