Sunday, Sept. 5, will begin with Church services, Holy Communion and special music at 9:30 a.m. A catered meal will be served at 11 a.m.
The anniversary has Proverbs 29:18a as its theme: Where there is no vision, the people perish. The early settlers 125 years ago lived in sod houses with dirt floors. It was hard to plow up the virgin prairie for crops and few had a full team of horses. There was livestock to care for. Yet in the midst of these struggles the people knew the importance of keeping the faith.
On June 7, 1885, a meeting was called to form a congregation. The Rev. Nervig of Revillo agreed to do four services a year despite having to travel from his home near the Minnesota border to do so. Necessary funds were raised with basket socials and people donated everything from land to whatever they could afford.
On Sept. 27, 1885, five men were selected to pick a site for a cemetery, one of the first things the church did. It was a stark reminder of how difficult times were and that death is a part of life and in these struggles we want Christ to be with us. In April of 1886 the Norway congregation entered into an agreement to call a pastor with the Bergen and Bethlehem congregations. On March 15, 1887, they decided to issue Pastor P. Skartvedt of Canton a call. He had filed a claim southeast of the present church.
"A vision, and they thrived," said Pastor Fonkert. "So we are still a part of that vision and without a vision, we perish. We continue this vision in many ways - through our synod and national church, missionaries, Sunday School and many others."
Back in 1885, there were 37 adults and 25 children in the congregation. The Bethlehem Bangor congregation paid one-third of its Sunday collections toward the minister's salary or $100 annually. Norway and Bergen congregations paid $100 and one-third of collections on Sunday and holidays.
In 1970, Norway and Trinity in Mobridge merged with the Rev. Flagstad as pastor, and he was joined by the Rev. Noer as assistant pastor a short time later. The Rev. Stadem was the next to serve Norway Church.
One of the first exciting times of the church was at the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918, when the announcement came, "Ring the bell! The war is over!" The Rev. Stensby and his brother, Hans, ran to the church to ring its bell and rang it throughout the night as they were joined by as many neighbors who could reach the church through the snow-clogged roads.
A choir was organized in 1936, using the "Frydetoner" Norwegian song book as most of the singing was done in the Norwegian language. When the Rev. Schlinkert became pastor in 1957, two choirs were started, a senior choir directed by Schlinkert and a junior choir by Doug Anderson.
Attending church meetings in the early days was not a simple matter. Homes were small, poorly equipped, supplies were meager. Those within walking distance - two to three miles, more or less, came on foot, while the rest came in wagons and buggies, sometimes drawn by old played-out work horses that required several hours to cover the distance; sometimes by a pair of unbroken ponies, generally known as broncos, that tried to cover the distance in such a hurry that buggy and occupants were left along the way.
In one case, a faithful old horse belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Peder Lappegard, in taking them home from such a gathering four miles distant, evidently thought he had earned his rest, and lay down and died on the way. Sometimes meetings turned to overnight stays when weather storms moved in suddenly.
The church has survived through the years. "We have been entrusted to carry out this vision," Fonkert says. "With God at our side we can and will with our time, our talents and possessions, working together and sharing the load together."
