Church will flash back to 1930s

Published 7:32 am Friday, July 20, 2012

Mona Lutheran to host Heritage Sunday July 22

What was it like to attend a typical Sunday morning worship service in the 1930s? Providing people with this “back in time” experience is one purpose of Mona Lutheran Church’s Heritage Sunday, which takes place at 9 a.m. Sunday morning, July 22.

“Another purpose is simply to revel in the congregation’s rich and distinguished history as a Norwegian Lutheran church founded by Claus Clausen in the mid-1870,” said Lydia Mittag, Mona’s pastor.

Mona’s Heritage Sunday is an effort to re-create the standard Sunday morning worship service that would be very familiar to those gathering in Mona in summer during the Great Depression.

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“We selected the era of the 1930s since that was the first decade when more worship services in Mona were in English than in Norwegian; although, there were still times when the ‘mother tongue’ was used,” Mittag said. “We are trying to recapture the rhythm and ritual of a typical Sunday worship experience that played such a vital role of peoples’ lives.”

The idea for a worship experience dedicated to the congregation’s religious and ethnic heritage first surfaced at a church council meeting last summer.

“We have always commemorated major milestones in the past, for example, the church’s centennial and the 125th anniversary,” said Kurt Meyer, president of the Mona congregation. “These are special occasions and are generally not your average, weekly worship experience.”

Although the service will be in English, there will be Norwegian music and a distinct Scandinavian flavor to coffee and fellowship following worship. After the service, Meyer will provide an informal presentation touching on the congregation’s history and traditions.

“One of these traditions, is that most people will be drinking strong black coffee while this presentation takes place,” Meyer said.

Mona Lutheran Church is one mile south of the Minnesota-Iowa state line on Highway 218. The congregation cordially invites the entire community, including non-Lutherans and non-Norwegians, to attend.