Taken from "Pottawattamie County, Iowa:A Collection of Historical Sketches and Family Histories, 1978
One hundred years after the Declaration of Independence was issued, a number of Scandinavian immigrants, spearheaded by Pastor H. Hansen of Omaha, founded Our Savior's Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The board, elected the night of the official organization - January 13, 1876, soon made plans to build a church. The edifice, located at Ninth Streetand Avenue A, was built in 1877.
As the church got underway, auxiliary groups developed, and among the first was that of the Sunday School, led and encouraged by H. Jensen. The Bethany Ladies' Aid, founded in 1881 is now Our Savior's Lutheran Church Women. Soon after, the Young Men's and the Young Women's groups developed, but the organization is now the Luther League. In the 1920s the congregation decided that it needed a new church home, and under the pastorate of J. P. M. Magnussen, a structure was built at Bluffs and Story Streets and dedicated in 1927. However, changes were not limited to physical structures. As time went the Danish language faded from use and was supplanted by English. Growth continued and by the 1950s the strong emphasis on education of young and adults, along with the crowded conditions in the Sunday School, dictated the need for an addition to the church. On January 14, 1962, during the pastorate of Reverend Carl Schattauer, the Education and Office unit was dedicated. The following year the congregation for the first time elected a woman, Mrs. Clarence (Dorothea) Hansen to the church council. Women, no longer limited to traditional roles, have expanded into active participation in the worship services. In 1961 the Danish United Evangelical Lutheran Synod of which the congregation had been a member, united with the German oriented American Lutheran Church and the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church to form the American Lutheran Church.
As the congregation continued to grow it became more important to have a larger space for fellowship and welcoming all! In 2002 a new and expanded fellowship hall, kitchen and welcome area were completed.
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