Edgewater News - March 17, 1931

The history of Ebenezer Swedish Lutheran Church, organized 39 years ago last January 22, is an important development.

In August 1890, a group of pioneer settlers gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Norman, on Foster, west of Clark, for the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. S. Daniel Olson, 1936 Estes. Rev. S. A. Sandahl, who read the marriage ceremony, helped the guests organize a Lutheran Sunday School and Ladies’ Aid Society which they maintained for more than two years before the church was organized.
**RESEARCHER NOTE: Mr. S. Daniel Olson was the brother of Ulrika Olson Norman***

On January 22, 1892, twenty-seven charter members gathered to organize the church and hear Rev. C. F. Rydholm give the first services. They used a little community church on Summerdale between Ashland and Paulina, now a private dwelling. Of those 27, ten are still North Side residents and members of Ebenezer Church. They are: Fred J. Nelson, 5145 N. Clark; Mr. & Mrs. S. Daniel Olson, 1936 Estes; Mr. & Mrs. Frank Walgren, 1714 Foster; Mr. & Mrs. John Benson, 5937 N. Fairfield; Mrs. Ida C. Magnuson, 1633 Balmoral; and Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Norman, 1754 Granville.
**RESEARCHER NOTE: According to the Ebenezer Church historian, the Norman’s were not listed in the church archives as charter members, only founders of the Dorcas Society**

Besides Rev. Rydholm, three pastors, Rev. Ola Strand, Rev. T. O Linnell, and Rev. S. E. Rydberg, officiated in the community church and in the first Ebenezer church build at Winnemac and Ravenswood in 1894 by A. F. Hansen.

The year 1902 brought an influx of new Swedish residents to Edgewater and the church under Rev. T. S. Johnston entered a period of growth which culminated in the building of the present church edifice at Foster and Paulina. Andrew Norman, one of the church founders, and distinguished as the artist among Chicago architects, drew the plans, and Axel W. Ostrand, 1438 Carmen, then superintendent of the Sunday school, was builder.

The erection of the present church, to which hundreds of days of labor were given free by members and friends, cost $45,000. Paintings, decorations and pews cost $12,000.

Plans for the altar, considered by Chicago artists and architects one of the most perfectly balanced works of its kind, were donated by the artist, Mr. Norman, who worked on them for six months. The altar and the carved stone doorways are still used by art students as models of perfect design. The art glass windows, with scenes from the life of Christ, were cut at a cost of $3,000.

In August, 1904, the cornerstone was laid, with Dr. Carl Eveld, then of Immanuel church and president of Illinois Conference of Augustana Synod, the principal speaker. Only the basement was used until 1908 when the church proper was ready for occupancy.

Dedication of the church, which seats 200, was in 1910, eight years after Rev. T. S. Johnston took the pastorate. Rev. Johnston is remembered as the leader who directed not only the building of the church and parsonage, now torn down, but also secured the ground for further expansion.

E. K. Jonson, D. D., who transferred to Ebenezer church from Immanuel church in Nov., 1915, is the present pastor. Graduating from Augustana College, Rock Island in 1901, he studied at University of Chicago in 1902 and 1903, at the Augustana College again in 1904, and was ordained in 1905. The degree Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Illinois Conference of Augustana Synod last year.

When Rev. Jonson took the pastorate, the church owed $31,000 on the church building debt. By 1921 the debt was paid, and a committee of 14 men was chosen to work on plans for a separate Sunday school building. Victor Lundgren, 7031 N. Paulina, then Sunday school superintendent, H. Wm. Peterson, 1426 Farragut, president of the building committee, and C. Oscar Peterson, 1706 Granville, gave much time and money in raising the $76,000 needed in the church treasury before construction of the Sunday school started. On Decoration day, 1928, when the building fund was complete and contracts were let to Rignell Company, ground for the Sunday school was broken.

One year later the new building was occupied and on June 30 dedication ceremonies were held, with Judge Harry Olson and President Peterson the speakers.

Cost of the Sunday school, with the present equipment, was $164,000, a figure which represents only about one-half of its value, Rev. Jonson says. Special prices given by members of the church and builders made the low cost possible. The Sunday school includes an auditorium which seats 1200, a kitchen equipped at a cost of $4,000, and a standard size gymnasium. Design, decorations and fixtures are modern.

Other dates outstanding in the history of the church are the years 1917 and 1918, when Ebenezer Choral Society was in existence. The Society, with 300 members under the direction of David Nyvall, Jr., was awarded first prize in competitive concerts of 600 Chicago Protestant and Jewish church choirs in 1917 and 1918. Officers included C. Oscar Peterson, honorary president, Robert E. Swanson, 1908 Summerdale, president; Lillian Johnson, 4615 N. Ashland, secretary; Irene Hallberg, 2026 Foster, financial secretary; and Edward S. Larsen, treasurer. The Choral Society disbanded in 1919. George A. Carlson, present choir conductor, took charge 10 years ago.

Famous visitors included Archbishop Nathan Soderblom of Sweden, who received the Nobel Peace prize with Ambassador Kellogg. He visited the church in the fall of 1927 and Dr. H. Donell, Bishop of Skara, Sweden, was a guest in March 1929.

The Ebenezer congregation of 27 in 1892 has grown to 2000 in 1931 and 3000 attend either church or Sunday school services each week. Four church services, two Sunday school services, and about 20 organization meetings are held every week. Societies affiliated with the church include Dorcas society, with 300 members; Young Ladies’ Circle, with 200; the Men’s club, with 100; and the P. T. A. of the Sunday school with 63 officers and teachers, besides parents.