Old Salem Helps Today's Congregations Through Transitions

By Thelma Ballinger Boeder

The following are remarks Old Salem Trustee Thelma Ballinger Boeder, retired archivist of the Minnesota Conference of the United Methodist Church, shared at Mt. Bethel UMC on January 1, 2023.

I join you this morning on behalf of the Old Salem Shrine Committee, Old Salem also known as The Little White Church. How does your Mt. Bethel congregation relate to this Minnesota Conference historic site? We could start and end that conversation quickly with a couple of answers, but I want to expand further, briefly, and place Mt. Bethel in the larger evolution of United Methodist congregations nearby.

When Mt. Bethel began as a mission of the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1960, the congregation held its first service that year on June 26 at Old Salem Shrine, the Little White Church. That is the first obvious answer to your connection with the site. But why there?

The Salem congregation of the Evangelical Association of North America was special, the first congregation of the denomination organized in Minnesota, in March of 1857. The second was what is now Mounds Park UMC in St. Paul; those folks organized a week later. Salem congregation built its church in the mid-1870s and continued to function into the 20th century. Conference records list it officially closed in 1914, followed by an attempt to revive it as a mission a few years later. That failed. The building stood empty until 1937 when the Minnesota Conference of the Evangelical Church designated it as their one and only historic site and arranged for its ongoing care and occasional use.

I understand that Mt. Bethel may be nearing the end of its congregational existence, a major change and difficult, I am sure. That leads to another similarity with Old Salem. Salem was an active congregation nearly 60 years, Mt. Bethel, something over 60 years and almost exactly 100 years later. Could thinking about what was happening around the Salem community in its time offer some analogies to Mt. Bethel’s situation now?

Salem began as a German-speaking congregation in an area with enough German immigrants to sustain it. The Evangelical Association also had nearby work, congregations in St. Paul, the oldest being what is now Mounds Park UMC, and also what is now Faith UMC in West St. Paul. There were others, too, in the city. The German-speaking congregations of the Methodist Episcopal Church were even more numerous, one so close to Old Salem, that when it closed many members joined Salem MEC just up the road. In the city, what we know now as Fairmount Ave. UMC was the oldest and strongest of the German Methodist congregations. A half circle of seven German Methodist churches ringed the southern outskirts of the Twin Cities from Shakopee to Woodbury. Four are still active: Lydia, Rosemount, Salem (now Crossroads Salem), and Woodbury.

Times changed. Moving into the 20th century, population demographics, language shifts, better transportation, a major depression, two World Wars – some congregations grew or stayed steady and others declined. With growing suburbs after World War II in the 1950s, conference leaders decided it time to begin new congregations in places like Inver Grove. The Evangelical United Brethren Church actively began several new missions, one of which was Mt. Bethel. Others included Normandale-Hylands in Bloomington, Church of Peace in Richfield, Hope in Lake Elmo, and Bethany in Rochester.

Once more, circumstances changed. The Lake Elmo congregation discontinued in 1978 because the community did not grow as anticipated. Bethany closed its building just a few years ago in 2016 after concluding that it had completed its mission at that site to the best of its ability. Instead, the congregation merged with nearby Evangel UMC. Mt. Bethel also seems to be at a changing point.

I am an archivist and historian. I have documented many congregations, some of which go on for years and years and some less than ten. As I consider them, I believe that each has or had meaning; the people worshiped, they communed together, they touched each other’s lives and their communities. They belong to each other and the whole Christian community even in parting.

Places like The Little White Church, Old Salem, help us to remember these transitions. That is why we care for it and visit from time to time. It can trigger memories for anyone, but those of you in Inver Grove Heights and here at Mt. Bethel will always have that extra connection, knowing your first service in 1960 was held there. Remembering affirms the link from past to present. Now it is time for all of us to move into the future, even if we do not know yet how best to do that. We will find a way.

Shoreline Views Restored

The Trustees of Old Salem are grateful to Ethan Gregg, a member at Mt. Bethel UMC, for choosing to do his Eagle Scout project at Old Salem. Ethan led a work crew of scouts from Troop 507 to clear the church’s overgrown shoreline over one weekend in August.

Ahead of the weekend, Ethan secured approval from Scouts BSA for the project, recruited his crew, bought food and supplies, and secured discounted topsoil from his employer, Wagner Sod. When the crew arrived bright and early Saturday, August 13, with loppers, handsaw and rakes in hand, Ethan was ready to put them to work.

The first order of business was spreading a load of topsoil among the many low spots in the cemetery to prepare for reseeding. They made quick work of that portion of the project.

The daily team of about 10-12 people pulled weeds, trimmed trees and took out buckthorn along the hillside leading to the lake. It was tedious, back-breaking work, especially since the scouts were only allowed to use hand tools to do their work. An adult leader cut larger trees with a chainsaw. They accumulated heaping piles of brush and branches, which they loaded into the dump truck, a flatbed trailer and pickups for dumping at Gerten’s. After more than 100 hours of work and 3 dump trucks, 7 trailers and 4 pickup loads of brush were removed, we have views of the lake!

In addition to Ethan, his family and the scouts, the Trustees thank everyone who donated to cover the costs of the project, Wagner Sod for the topsoil and use of the dump truck, and Gerten’s for a discount on the disposal of a few loads of brush.

Author to Share Kochendorfer Story at Old Salem

Sunday, Sept. 18 at 3 PM
In-Person at Old Salem Shrine
Livestream via Facebook Live

The Kochendorfers were founding members of Old Salem back in 1858, but in 1862 they were caught in the middle of the Dakota War. In the book Malice Toward None, Minnesota author Dan Munson tells the story of the four surviving Kochendorfer children orphaned by that War, and how members of the Old Salem congregation took in and cared for them and allowed them to not merely survive but to thrive.

Hear the story on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 3 PM in-person at Old Salem or via Facebook Live (Facebook.com/OldSalemShrine).

Endowment Fund Established to Care for Old Salem

Through a very generous gift from the Estate of Jill Lewis, the future of Old Salem Shrine is more assured. The estate of the long-time president of the Old Salem Shrine Board of Trustees has established an endowment fund through the Minnesota United Methodist Foundation, designating proceeds to be used for maintenance and repairs to the church building, cemetery and grounds.

Jill (zehdner) lewis

Jill became a strong proponent of endowment funds through her tireless work with the Inver Grove Heights B.E.S.T. Foundation, which provides educational scholarships to graduates of Simley High School. She saw first-hand how endowments can establish a legacy of generosity for years and years.

The fund, “The Zehnder Memorial Endowment,” is named for Jill’s family, who was among the founding families and who have cared for Old Salem through generations. We welcome gifts to the fund. Once the fund reaches the minimal threshold of $25,000, Old Salem can benefit from annual distributions. Those distributions can be used for ongoing maintenance as well as significant repairs, such as replacing the roof, siding or fence.

While our most immediate need is gifts to pay for roof repairs, we also welcome gifts to the Zehnder Memorial Endowment to help us reach the minimum threshold for distributions. Please also consider a gift to the endowment as part of your estate plans.

Donate online
Choose “Named Endowment,” enter the amount and click “Donate.” On the next screen, specify “Zehnder Memorial Endowment Acct 8000” and then complete your transaction.

Donate by check
Payable to: Minnesota Methodist Foundation Please write “Zehnder Memorial Endowment Acct 8000” in the memo line.

Mail to:
MN Methodist Foundation
PO Box 26423
Minneapolis, MN 55426