Submerge Church preparing for first service at South Pleasant Church in Bonanzaville

By Michael McGurran | The Focus

A Fargo church has a new location in the heart of Bonanzaville.

Submerge Church will hold its first service at the South Pleasant Church Sunday, June 4.

The historic church was built in 1890 in Christine, North Dakota. After over 100 years, it’s services closed in 2013. It was donated to Bonanzaville in 2015 by the citizens of Christine to replace the St. John’s Church which had burned down due to an electrical fire in 2014.

Submerge Church Head Pastor Paul Letvin said his congregation consists of around 50 to 60 people any given Sunday, and he’s hoping the stable location will help draw in new members.

“We know that some people will be coming simply for the historical and nostalgic aspects of the building, which is wonderful,” Letvin said.

Submerge Church is a church plant from Cottonwood Community Church in Grand Forks and they began holding services at the Boys and Girls Club of the Red River Valley in 2014. From there, the pandemic forced them to briefly hold services online.

Letvin said after bouncing between locations since the pandemic, they’re looking forward to finally having a regular space for services.

“Getting to be in more of a permanent location, where we know that we can be more directly impacting the community, giving back to the community, being team players within the metro area, and making it a great place to live, that’s really probably the biggest thing that we’re excited about,” Letvin said.

The church plans to team up with Bonanzaville for Pioneer Days this summer, working in an old fashioned Sunday Church service.

South Pleasant Church has been in Bonanzaville since 2015, after it was retired from services in Christine, North Dakota. Michael

McGurran /The Focus

*All dates and times are subjecttochange.

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