ROOTED & GROUNDED IN LOVE
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF MINISTRY: 1972-2022
BY AUDRA VANARSDALE
Dear Friends in Christ,
What a delight it is to greet you as you observe 50 years of an abundantly blessed life as a community of faith in Jesus Christ, “Rooted and Grounded in Love”!
I join with your neighbors and friends throughout the northwest Omaha community and across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in giving thanks to God for the way that your life in Christ has been a witness to generations of God’s people.
The ministries of this congregation — Habitat for Humanity Builds, Loads of Love, Community Garden, Faith Formation — continue to bear fruit in Christ’s church. We look forward in joyful anticipation as we await the redemptive work that God will continue through your hands.
Paul’s words to the Philippian Christians capture the thanksgiving and hope of this moment in your history.
“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:3-6 May God, who has begun this good work among you, give you strength and joy as you continue to celebrate and share God’s love in a
community of faith, while serving others.
A. Eaton
It is with a spirit of rejoicing that I write to congratulate you on the occasion of Lord of Love’s 50th anniversary. Celebrating a halfcentury of ministry is a real milestone in a congregation’s life, and I thank God for all that you have done and been — and that you continue to be.
I have been impressed by and appreciative of the spirit of Lord of Love. There is such a good energy among you, and such commitment to reaching out for the sake of Christ. I am especially impressed with your work with Habitat for Humanity and the Community Garden, and the compassionate creativity of Loads of Love.
Internally, the energy generated by your music ministries and faith formation ministries helps to sustain your mission and the spirit I have encountered there. I’m also impressed by your generosity and your commitment in proposing anniversary gifts to the Fund for Leaders, the Food Bank for the Heartland, the Mission Field Nebraska ministries and your yet-to-be-determined special project. A giving congregation is a healthy congregation!
As you celebrate being “Rooted and Grounded in Love” for 50 years, you are carrying on a faithful legacy from the past and laying a solid foundation for another 50 years of ministry and more. I look forward to being with you in person to share in the celebration.
In the meantime, congratulations on this significant milestone — and may God bless your celebration and your ongoing ministry.
Sincerely yours in Christ, Brian D. Maas
Brian Maas, bishop of the Nebraska Synod of the ELCA, came to Lord of Love recently to help celebrate our 50th anniversary. He praised the church for its history of community support and its commitment to carrying Jesus’ work forward in the future. Dear Friends in Christ,Pastor
Dear Lord of Love,
For 50 years, the mission of Christ has been happening here in this place, day after day. Weekly, you have been rooted together in love by God’s word, fed and nourished by God’s love and grace at the font and the table, and sent forth to share the good news of Christ wherever you go. By the power of the Holy Spirit, you have been given the power to believe, to live through hard times, and to utilize the gifts God has given you to share God’s love with others all over the world.
This includes the encouragement and nurturing of faith in your younger people, which has led to the formation of at least three ELCA pastors so far. It includes the garden, where the work of your hands, with the help of God, has produced literally tons and tons of food to help feed people with fresh vegetables. It includes all the time and resources you have given to help in areas where disaster has struck, the numerous Habitat for Humanity houses you have helped to build, the many quilts you have sewn for Lutheran World Relief and the aid and help you have given to the ministries in Tanzania. You have shared special offerings and endowment gifts in love with people both near and far, where there were needs that others have been praying for, which you have literally helped be the outreaching hands of the Lord of Love for others.
This was the passion and servant heart of the congregation that first drew me in wanting to partner with you in ministry for the past five years. In this time, many changes have happened. This includes the start of our new outreach ministry, Loads of Love, which has been a blessing to many and serves a need not previously met in our area. And then there was the pandemic!
Becky Sells came to Lord of Love in January 2017 after serving three churches in rural Nebraska. She has a Master of Divinity degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.During the pandemic, with the help of God and the gifting of the Spirit, all the gifts needed to connect us with one another online were found and put together very quickly. This has allowed several former members to re-connect with us and participate in the community from afar, and people unable to attend in person to still tune in and participate in our ministries on a regular basis. And your commitment toward financially supporting the ministry, and staying in touch with one another, and finding ways to share God’s love with others despite the circumstances, is a huge strength of this community, which I hope and pray continues to get passed on for many generations to come.
So as it was said in our 50th Anniversary text from Ephesians 3:16-21, so is my prayer for you, that the deep rootedness of God’s love and power, as seen and witnessed in the life of Jesus, and with the help of the Spirit got passed down to the world through his disciples after him, that it is through this power of God that the heart and ministry of Lord of Love would continue to pulsate, give glory to God, and “accomplish abundantly far more than all we (could) ask or imagine,” for the many more generations to come after us. Amen.
Love in Christ, Pastor Becky Sells
Pastor Becky’s degree in elementary education comes through in her children’s sermons each Sunday.
INTRODUCTION
One Sunday summer morning, June 11, 1972, to be exact, an excited crowd gathered outside a newly built church in northwest Omaha, ready to begin a spiritual journey as a Lutheran Church mission congregation. Most of the people had worshipped together at a different church in Omaha, and some families came thanks to personal invitations or after watching the building sprout from land that once held a family farm.
The opening-day procession followed a pair of banners reading, “Jesus Christ, our Cornerstone” and “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.”
From that first day, this much-evolved congregation now celebrates five decades of faith, service and fellowship, as firmly committed to a Christ-centered life as the folks whose procession at 10405 Fort Street inaugurated Lord of Love Lutheran Church.
To commemorate those 50 years, this book offers a brief story of our rich, fulfilling and complex history as a Christian congregation. The words and pictures can trigger memories of past events and people, spark discussion about today’s challenges and inspire Lord of Love’s people to carry forward our anniversary mission: “Rooted and Grounded in Love.”
Lord of Love members carried these two banners into the church for the opening worship service on June 11, 1972.
Charter members and guests assemble outside Lord of Love for the opening service.
THE BEGINNING
Lord of Love Lutheran Church had its beginning at the 1970 annual meeting of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. After researching several options leading to Our Savior’s closing, there was a large group of the congregation who wanted to continue to worship together.
The congregation voted to give up its church building at 30th and Izard Streets. Many members helped establish a mission church at a new location. A Task Force was appointed to begin the project of establishing a new church. The Home Mission Department of the American Lutheran Church located a suitable site at 105th and Fort Streets.
Members of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church gather for a Good Friday service.
Our Savior’s sanctuary featured carved wooden pews, a pipe organ and a traditional altar. Below, a confirmation class in about 1961 with Pastor Armand Asper, right, and lighting candles at the altar.
THINK COMMITTEE
Formed January 1970 by the Church Council, it recommended forming a new mission congregation near 105th and Fort Streets and selling the Our Savior’s building and the parsonage to a Lutheran Church group.
Members:
The Rev. Armand Asper
Paul Borge (chairman)
Ethel Hansen
Elwood Baseman
Dorian Lee Henry Lucas
Gary Ramsay
Al Johnson
Jeff Place
Paula Hyland
Emil Evenson
Harold Peterson
Right: Members of Our Savior’s received this letter asking them about their plans, with options including joining Lord of Love, joining another Lutheran church or moving their membership to a different denomination.
OUR SAVIOR’S FINAL SERVICE
CHURCH COUNCIL, 1972
Officers: Paul Borge, president
Harold Peterson, vice president
Mrs. Rodney Lorang, secretary
Lee Pennell, treasurer
Ethel Hansen, financial secretary
Mrs. William Pugh, Sunday School superintendent
Board of Deacons: Art Masengarb, chairman
C. Erwin Paulsen
Mrs. Rudy Turansky
Emil Evenson
Richard Takechi James Edwardson
Don Skadeland Mrs. Joy Little Miss Julie Baird
Dan Manning Gary Ramsay Mrs. Lee Pennell
Board of Trustees: Floyd Welliver, chairman
Rudy Turansky Marvin Hill
Paul Belland
Tom Bayer
Lloyd Clark Al Johnson William Pugh Don Schneider
Board of Parish Education: Bjorn Garnaas, chairman
Steve Jordon
Mrs. N. Gaverholt
Elwood Baseman
Mrs. Marvin Badtke
Mrs. James Hinchman
Louis Hyland
Dorian Lee Mrs. Eugene Lingren
Above and left: Congregation members attend Our Savior’s Lutheran Church’s final worship service on June 4, 1972. The church was organized in 1875 as a Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church and moved to 30th and Izard Streets in 1921.PLANS TAKE SHAPE
The Task Force worked with an architect to design the church building. Due to budget constraints, the original design had to be altered and some of the initially planned space had to be completely eliminated.
The new church held a groundbreaking ceremony on August 23, 1971. Construction began soon after, but the new mission church did not have a name. The soon-to-be congregation’s leaders asked the youth of Our Savior’s to find a name. The Synod approved the youth group’s choice: Lord of Love Lutheran Church, which came from a popular Christian song, “Pass It On.” Church
member Don Skadeland, right, and an architect from Wilscam & Mullins show the architect’s sketch of Lord of Love at the church’s groundbreaking ceremony.
Below: Prospective members gather at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new mission church.
Above: Work began in 1971 on the new church on 5 acres of land at 105th and Fort Streets, purchased from the Disciples of Christ for $32,500. Utilities were already installed in the adjacent paved streets.
Left: D.R. Anderson Constructors Inc. completed the building, designed by Wilscam & Mullins architects, in time for Lord of Love’s first service on June 11, 1972. The congregation assumed a mortgage of $290,999.69. A 1988 addition including a fellowship hall required a $380,000 loan, which was paid off in June 2004.
Above: An early promotional piece for Lord of Love.
Left: John & Carol Haakenson
Below: Charter members gather outside the new mission church for the opening service June 11, 1972. At an organizational meeting January 16, 1973, members adopted a constitution and bylaws and discussed the sale of the church parsonage at 538 South 51st Avenue to Gethsemane Lutheran Church, which took place later that year.
LORD OF LOVE DEDICATION
The next step was to call a pastor. The Task Force became the Call Committee. Working with the Mission Department and the Bishop of the Central District, the church issued a call to Pastor John Haakenson on March 11, 1972.
Pastor Haakenson, his wife, Carol, and their two sons, Peter and Paul, arrived in Omaha April 15, 1972. The Task Force and Pastor Haakenson went to work on the new church’s constitution and bylaws and scheduled the opening worship service and dedication ceremony for June 11, 1972.
On June 4, 1972, just three months short of its 97th anniversary, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church had its final church service. The theme for the service was, “The Word of Life . . . Pass it On.” It was sad for many people to leave their beloved church, but also exciting to open a new mission church. Not all members of the congregation joined Lord of Love, but a large group did, and many charter members still worship together now at Lord of Love.
Above: Churches around the Omaha area received invitations to attend Lord of Love’s opening service and dedication.
Left: The Rev. Archie Madsen, Central District bishop of the American Lutheran Church, took part in Lord of Love’s opening service, including the procession of new members and guests.
“Where you have your corn, just a little bit north of that, is where our potato patch was. We had a windmill and lilacs.”
‘JUST AN OLD FARM’
“It was just an old farm place,” said Joyce Christopherson Arant, who grew up on land that now includes Lord of Love Lutheran Church. In the 1800s, her Danish immigrant grandfather and grandmother, Andrew and Mettamarie Christopherson, bought the 120-acre farm that includes the church’s 5 acres.
Joyce died in 2016, but Lord of Love member Deb Lund recorded an interview with her earlier, looking at the property from Joyce’s house just east of the church and at an album of photos of the farm.
Among Joyce’s memories: “Grandma died in 1917. My folks were married in 1918, and then my Grandpa Andrew, he died just a year or so after that. Then the farm was divided up.
“My Aunt Sophie got the part down where Walmart is. My dad got in here (pointing). There was the house and the barns and all those buildings a farm has.
“My Uncle Harry, he got the next 40 acres. Aunt Sophie was born in 1882. She was born, married and died in the same farmhouse, and the farmhouse was right there at the end of that corn (in the Lord of Love garden), right down there. That was the farm building area. The house was on Lord of Love property, and the orchard.” There was a plum thicket where she played house as a child.
Emma, Elmer and Joyce Christopherson, with Rex. Bruce and Joyce Arant.“See where the brown house is? Just kinda down from there was the barn. Where the cream-colored house is was kinda the corn crib. Between there was a cottonwood tree, and other cottonwood trees over there. This was just prairie, like. Grandpa went to the Missouri River and got saplings and planted them.”
A 1968 arial photo looking southwest shows the graded church property, center, with Fort Street running from the bottom middle to the upper right and 105th Street on the west side.
“The city was coming in. They came in and re-graded the farm, except this piece of ground (with the house just east of the church) is original. There was kind of a bank where the church is. They came in with that big road machine and they just changed the landscape.”
Joyce heard about families that lost children during the diphtheria epidemic in the 1920s, including Aunt Sophie’s daughter Emma, 11 months old.
“Where the Interstate is, where the Thompson farm was, they lost three children in the wintertime. They put them out in the corn crib until they could bury them. Isn’t it terrible what those people went through?”
Joyce recounted what Aunt Sophie said happened after Emma died: “Grandpa took the wagon into town and got a little coffin. The neighbor ladies got together and made her a little dress from lace curtains and buried her down where Northwest High is. There was a house there, and at the corner of that yard there was a little cemetery. Then they opened up Mount Hope Cemetery, and Grandpa bought some plots and moved her up there. They took the harnesses from the horses and laid the coffin down in the grave with the harnesses from the horses.”
In the Great Depression, years of drought devastated farmers. “Mom told me that one year they got corn about this high and they just cut it for fodder. For two years, the corn didn’t even come up.
“We didn’t have much during the Depression, but we had food. My folks butchered chickens, milk, eggs. My mother canned everything she could get her hands on. Our cellar was full.”
Joyce attended a one-room country school, District 16, since replaced by Sunnyslope School, and Benson High School. “I thought the front doors were going to swallow me.”
When Joyce and Bruce Arant married in 1950, her parents gave her an acre of land at one end of the farm. “On the farm, we had a wonderful dog named Rex. He didn’t like anybody but our family. We had ducks when we were first married.
View from the roof during construction.“In the spring, my dad would take out a plow with the horse and dig a furrow and we’d lay in the potatoes and he would come back and cover them up. And we would go back out there and pick off the potato bugs, with a little can of kerosene, and put them in the kerosene.
“My dad didn’t have a lot of milking cows, maybe like three, enough for our family, and of course we had chickens. My folks would get like 200 chickens every spring. We had eggs, and when they reached 3 pounds, boy, they were fryers. My mom could really fry chicken. We had a lot of it. And we had hogs, and of course we had a barn full of cats.
“My dad also, besides farming, fixed Thompson Windmills. He also had this (machine) shop. He sharpened plowshares, did some blacksmith work.”
Her father, Elmer, was killed in a tractor accident in 1953. In 1965 her mother, Emma, was faced with having to pay for paving nearby streets, a huge expense. She sold the land and moved into town.
“It was hard to see them tear stuff down. The trees were 90 years old, and they tore them down. They took a bulldozer to the farmhouse and burned it. It just made you sick.
“They developed all this in here. We knew Fort Street would get busy, so we remodeled the house and turned the front this way.
The family used to go to downtown Benson on Saturday nights, where the stores stayed open until midnight for the farmers.
Joyce said the arrangement living next door to Lord of Love has been a good experience.
Lord of Love as it looks today.
“We were on the very northwest corner of Omaha, and now we’re mid-city. But it’s still quite peaceful. It doesn’t bother us because we’re up on a bank and we’ve got those trees. We sure appreciate you guys as neighbors,” she said. “You take really good care of the yard. It really looks nice.”
FACES OF LORD OF LOVE
Clockwise from the top: Boy Scout Troop 565 meets with Pastor Brad Meyer; Ron Thom anchors the Choir’s bass section; the late Pastor Reid Neve with his “spit-tune” brass award; youths and sponsors serve Easter breakfast; and church mainstays Ruth and Dan Manning, plus Dan on apron duty.
Lord of Love Lutheran Church ELCA 10405 Fort Street | Omaha, NE 68134 (402) 493-2946 | lord-of-love.org
“Rooted and Grounded in Love,” in honor of Lord of Love’s 50th anniversary, designed and produced by Peg Pennell.