Glen Cary Lutheran Church was founded on October 24, 1870. The constitution officially designated it the "Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Glen Carey Township, Anoka County, Minnesota" and the constitution further stipulated that "this name cannot be changed except by State Legislature orders." Sometime later Glen Carey (a Scottish name meaning "Beautiful Valley") Township was burned to the ground by a prairie fire leaving its name to be preserved by the church. Church services were held in homes in the first years. The first church building was started in 1873 on land donated by Mats Gilbertson. Mats and his wife and children first moved into the area in 1866. It took them three days by covered wagon to make the trip from St. Anthony (later Minneapolis) to our present location. The trails were so bad the horses were mired in mud several times. The new church was 22 feet wide, 32 feet long and had 14 foot studs. The church was used during part of the season of 1875 and was completed in 1880 for year-round use. It was in 1875 that pastors from Minneapolis began serving the congregation once a month. For many years this meant someone had to drive a team into Minneapolis to "fetch the preacher." In 1899 the railroad came through neighboring Andover (only three miles) shortening the trip considerably. There was still a problem however; the train came through only around midnight. To compensate for the inconvenience, whoever was delegated to make the trip was excused from their $3.00 annual payment to the church. Frequent entries in the congregational minutes for many years were instructions to negotiate with a congregation in Minneapolis for "pastor service."
In the early years, Glen Cary Church did not have musical accompaniment and three gentlemen were elected to lead the congregation in singing. Three men were elected to increase the odds of at least one of the men showing up. In 1926 services were held every third Sunday. Sometime after 1933 a pastor began to come every other Sunday plus once a month for Ladies Aid, Luther League, and whatever other meetings were occasioned. It was not until 1952 that services were held every Sunday.
The early settlers were predominately Norwegian and Swedish. There was a discussion about which language to use during worship, which led to the separation of Glen Cary members. In 1873 some Swedes withdrew to form another congregation to our north (Our Saviour's Lutheran), while the Norwegians stayed in the Glen Cary congregation. There were also hard financial times through out our history. At a particularly trying time during the depression the men were discussing closing the church because the church didn't have the $35 to pay the pastor's salary. The resourceful women of the congregation overheard this and planned a dinner to help raise the money. This dinner is now an annual event known as the Harvest Festival.
Ground was broken in 1959 for our old sanctuary; the narthex and education wings were added in 1970. Ground for our current structure was broken in 2001 and finished in the summer of 2002. We have a worship band that plays during our contemporary service. The new sanctuary has brought about a few changes. Our new sanctuary can accommodate more people so we have moved from 3 Sunday services to 2 Sunday services. We also have enough room now to have our traditional Sunday school classes plus adult education classes. Our congregation has been around for 158 years. Concerns expressed through out our history are still expressed today. How do we reach out to the growing population and incorporate new members into the life and mission of the congregation without losing the close-family spirit? We pray that our mission will continue to be as successful as it has been in the past.
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