Back Roads

This week’s Back Roads is the work of The Land Correspondent Tim King. Photos by Jan King. Short on parishioners, long on history

Richard Klein has been attending St. Nicholas parish, near unincorporated Belle River in Douglas County, Minnesota, for nearly a half century. He was young when he and his wife joined; but now he worries the large country church won’t have enough parishioners to keep operating in 10 years.

“We did get 35 young people this year,” he says hopefully.

Richard is the church custodian now days. Even though it’s painful to stand for long and he’s hard of hearing, he’s offered to give us a tour. He explains that the church secretary, who was smitten by Covid and hospitalized for a month, is just back at work and recovering.

Sitting in one of the shiny oak pews which date back to the church’s construction in 1916, Richard explains how he repaired a few pew backs. Then he points to the cream-colored ceiling far overhead and explains that although the new LED lighting may last longer and use less electricity, it doesn’t light parts of the church as well as he’d like.

Talk of light bulbs leads to talk of how to change them. To replace a bulb requires going into the choir loft, climbing a ladder into the attic leading to the steeple, and walking out over the ceiling. Richard apparently doesn’t have acrophobia. The lightening does illuminate the stations of the cross along the walls. Richard is proud of St. Nicholas’ large statues for the stations. Most churches have smaller statues, he says. “When they ordered these statues they came on the train,” he says. “When they unpacked the crates they saw how big they were and thought, “We didn’t order these big statues. We can’t afford them.” They contacted the company and asked to return them. The company said it was too expensive to ship them back and that the parish should keep them.” So, the handsome statues have graced the church walls for a century. Having been given such a fine gift, the parishioners of St. Nicholas have always been generous and thankful. Richard points to a new roof for the beautifully maintained church and parish house. Then there’s new carpeting and an elevator — all donated by the congregation.

Richard says he’s had trouble with the elevator, but shows us how to operate it. We survive the descent and the elevator door opens onto a bright spacious basement with new tables and chairs and a remodeled kitchen. Richard is proud that the congregation has kept the church up to date. But, as we leave, he points out the solid oak paneling placed on the wall by the original craftsmen. Both the new and the old are treasured. v

Douglas County

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This farm had the first Dual-Axis Trackers in Minnesota, saving this farmer at least $213,321. Here’s why he made the decision when he did: