CROOKED RIVER — The Crooked River Lutheran Church has celebrated its 84th anniversary, and its last service.
The church was organized by nine families in the summer of 1934, in the Crooked River Hall. The final service was held Aug. 12, exactly 84 years after.
“Back then, Crooked River was a sizable town, so there were several churches in Crooked River at that time.” said Lisa Skogsrud, pastor of the Crooked River Lutheran Church. “Actually, when it started off they borrowed space from the United Church and Anglican Church at the time.”
Today, things are different.
“There aren’t a lot of people left, but some of the folks will become members in Porcupine Plain, Redeemer, and some will Lutheran in Tisdale,” said Skogsrud.
She said members still in the congregation were the closest group she has ever known.
“This little congregation, as small as it is, is one of the loudest, most close-knit congregations that I’ve ever known, but that’s sometimes what you find in a small congregation, an extraordinary connection that the people have to each other,” Skogsrud said.
She hopes that those ties will continue when the congregation moves.
“The Crooked River congregation has been a part of Crooked River for a long time, and it’s the last church in Crooked River,” Skogsrud said. “It’s the last vestige of a time when Crooked River was a bigger town, back in the days when there was a sawmill there, and there were schools, and there were multiple churches, and stores.”
The special service had visitors from other congregations, former members travelling back, and even a visit from a former pastor.
“It’s a service of thanksgiving more than anything else, for all that has been accomplished in that place,” Skogsrud said.
“It’s a sad time, but it’s also a time to be grateful.”
The service was a final goodbye for the congregation, and a chance to look toward the future.
“The church is not really a building. The church is the people gathered around the word of God, and that can happen almost anywhere.”
