In 2021 the King of Grace congregation held a dedication for their new worship facility. A brief history was produced for this occasion.
Composed for the dedication of the new church building on October 3rd, 2021
The author of Hebrews writes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (13:8). The Almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful, and infinite God does not change. Unlike anything else in this world, Jesus remains the same. What a comfort it is for us sinners to know we have an unchanging God who showed his unchanging love by sending His only begotten Son: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The unchanging Gospel truth that “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesian 2:8) is the message to which King of Grace Lutheran Church continues to cling and proclaim along with all the Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs of the church.
The history of King of Grace Lutheran Church is tied to the early Norwegian immigrants in the 1850s who settled in Paint Creek, Iowa. Very early they met together to organize a congregation. The earliest dated entry goes back to January 6th, 1851. Within that same year, the congregation built and began a school. The church was initially served by itinerant pastors, C. L. Clausen being the first. In 1853, together with the Washington Prairie Parish, the congregation called Pastor Ulrik Vilhelm Koren from Norway, who later became the president of the Norwegian Synod. He preached his first sermon on January 1, 1854; and in that same year, a log cabin church was built. The Paint Creek congregation joined the Norwegian Synod in 1855.
The Paint Creek congregation grew quickly, and in 1858 it was decided to divide the congregation into East Paint Creek and West Paint Creek. Koren served the congregations until 1862. Pastor Ove Jakob Hjort was called to be their next pastor. He faithfully served them until his death in 1879. During the 1880s there were many doctrinal controversies in the Norwegian Synod, chief of which was the doctrine of Election or Predestination. This controversy which erupted among the Norwegian Lutherans, affected the congregations of Paint Creek. The majority of the voting members (104 of them), led by Pastor Hartmann, adopted the false teaching of F. A. Schmidt who taught that “salvation in a certain sense does not depend on God alone.” Schmidt was teaching a synergistic doctrine of election which Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions clearly reject and condemn. A minority of voting members (33 of them) opposed this as false teaching and refused to vote. They were declared to have “left on their own” or were expelled by the pastor and his congregation. In 1885 Pastor Hartmann and the majority congregation were suspended from the Synod for adopting church doctrine that conflicted with the Bible and the Synod. This led Hartmann and the majority of the congregation to join the Anti-Missourian Brotherhood in 1886.
West Paint Creek Synod Church
The minority who opposed the false teaching which Hartmann promoted, were regarded by the Synod, as the true Paint Creek congregation and so there was no immediate formal reorganization. By 1892 both East Paint Creek Synod Church and West Paint Creek Synod Church erected buildings of their own. The Paint Creek congregations had already suffered the ravages of the Election Controversy which tore apart the Norwegian Synod, but by the grace of God they were supplied with faithful orthodox pastors and laymen who continued in the confession of the true Lutheran faith when the Synod was persuaded to join the unionistic merger in 1917. They stayed with the teaching of Scripture and joined the “little” Norwegian Synod, which we now call the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS).
In 2003 the Paint Creek Synod Churches voted to discontinue services at their churches and to hold services in Waukon. Pastor Harvey Abrahamson served the two congregations. This move was made because the congregations felt they could better reach people with the Gospel if located in the center of the population. The first service was held at the Farm Bureau Building in Waukon on September 7, 2003. The initial trial period of six months was soon extended, but in the Fall of 2004, East Paint Creek Synod congregation voted to return to their church building, and the West Paint Creek Synod congregation voted to continue services in town.
Besides the hope that they could better reach people with the Gospel within the city, West Paint Creek Synod congregation also had other significant considerations. First, West had no running water—better facilities were needed. Second, the confusion of names. There were four churches in the vicinity with “Paint Creek” in their name (West Paint Creek Synod Lutheran Church, East Paint Creek Synod Lutheran Church, Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church, and Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church). Stories are told of visitors attending the wrong church for a funeral, when there were two funerals going on at the same time and day.
The services continued in the Farm Bureau Building and the name King of Grace was chosen for the new congregation. The constitution and by-laws were filed on December 13, 2004. During this same time, the church began the search for a more permanent home. The congregation’s prayers were answered, and in May of 2005, they purchased a former auto-parts store on 2nd St. NW. The members and other volunteers spent the summer remodeling the building and it was dedicated to the service of the Lord on October 2, 2005. The Lord blessed King of Grace Lutheran church not only with a place to receive the Word and Sacraments, but also faithful pastors who preached the unchanging Truth of our salvation through Christ Jesus alone.
King of Grace 2nd St. NW
Pastor Abrahamson, who served Redeemer Lutheran Church in New Hampton and Trinity Lutheran Church in Calmar, continued to serve King of Grace. However, in October of 2005, both Pastor Abrahamson and the congregation determined that King of Grace should call its own pastor. On November 6, 2005, Pastor J. Kincaid Smith was called to serve the congregation on a part-time basis. Pastor Smith faithfully served King of Grace from December 2006 until 2010. During his time as Pastor, he also supervised two vicars who served King of Grace, Christian Eisenbeis (2008–2009) and Joshua Skogen (2009–2010). Vicar Joshua Skogen was then called to serve King of Grace as their full-time pastor following Pastor Smith’s retirement. Pastor Skogen served King of Grace from 2010–2012 and was followed by Pastor Ronald Pederson. Between Skogen’s departure and Pederson’s arrival, Pastor Smith again served as vacancy pastor, commuting from Mankato, MN.
Altar of King of Grace 2nd St. NW
For fourteen years King of Grace worshipped in their location on 2nd Street. However, at the end of 2019, a building with much more space became available. The church voted to purchase the new building and had their first Christmas service held in it that very year. The members of King of Grace and contractors from the local community accomplished an incredible amount of work converting the Farm Service Agency building into a church. God surely cares for his flock, and we give thanks to God for his continued blessings on his church.
Following Pastor Pederson’s retirement at the end of 2020, King of Grace was served in vacancy by Pastor Theodore Gullixson, whose father, Walther Gullixson was a pastor at the East and West Paint Creek Synod churches from 1957–1964. After requesting a vicar from the Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary, Vicar Abraham Faugstad was installed in July 2021 with Pastor Timothy Erickson serving as the supervising pastor.
Sanctuary of current building
It is appropriate to close with the words from the 100th Anniversary booklet of the Reorganization of the Paint Creek Synod parish:
What we have and enjoy today in our midst is due, humanly speaking, to the unselfish labours of many who have gone on to their eternal reward. Actually, it is all due to the tender mercies of our God. He has given us the Gospel of a free and unconditioned salvation. He has supplied faithful workers in the pulpit and the pew. He has crowned their preaching, teaching, hearing, praying, working, and giving with His blessing. All that we have and are and see today is a tribute to the riches of His wondrous grace. “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” (Ps. 115: 1).
May the God of all grace continue to bless this place, help us abide and remain steadfast in the faith, and continue to confess the Scriptural truth of salvation by grace alone as rightly expressed in the Lutheran Confessions; so that we may “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrew 4:16).