Our
History
MCC
was founded on November 14, 1905 by Mr. & Mrs. Morris Johnson as the
“Swedish Evangelical Mission Church.” At the beginning, there were two other
founding members, Hjalmar Borlin, and Hans Anderson.
The
Johnsons donated the land for the building where it stands today, and Morris
Johnson oversaw the construction, which was completed on April 10, 1906. On
September 15, 1906 this congregation joined the Covenant Denomination
In
the early years, the church did not have a permanent pastor but was served by a
series of itinerant pastors. In 1924, the first permanent pastor, Erick A.
Ohman arrived.
Until
the 1930s, Swedish was the main language spoken, but a number of causes brought
about change. First, as a new generation grew up in America, they preferred
fitting in by speaking English. Second, as the church grew, the new members
were not always Swedish, so there was an obvious barrier that had to be dealt
with. Finally, the residual effects of World War I aroused angry sentiment, and
Swedish was often confused with German, so this inclined to ‘Americanize.’
Through
the years, there were various modifications to the facility. There was no
basement until 1924, when they dug out from beneath the sanctuary to create
more space. In the 1960’s the western addition was added, and in 1980, in
recognition of the 75th anniversary of MCC, the sanctuary was
remodeled.
In
2005, MCC took a big leap of faith and inaugurated a new ministry, Take the Next Step, using the church parsonage as a
community service center. This ministry has already aided thousands of people
in times of urgent need.
MCC
celebrated its First 100 Years of Ministry in October of 2005. Many
former members and pastors returned to help us celebrate this great event.
The
pastors who have served at MCC:
Leslie
Ostberg: 1923 Tim Sporrong: 1975-1985
Erick
A. Ohman: 1924-1926 Dennis Pool: 1984-1990
John
H. Lundberg: 1927-1928 Willis Holmgren: 1988-1989
Erick
A. Ohman: 1929-1931 Al Johnson: 1989-1998
Oscar
F. Larson: 1931-1936 Harold Larson: 1998-1999
Erick
A. Ohman: 1936-1944 David Wells: 1999-2002
C.H.
Ludberg: 1944-1945 Harold Larson: 2002-2004
Robert
M. Dahl: 1945-1948 Dick & Judy Anderson: 2004-2005
Wallace
E. Lanchester: 1948-1959 Paul Sellman: 2005-
Fred
Neth: 1959-1962
Erik
Norman: 1962-1965
Dean
Gray: 1965-1968
Fred
Marley: 1968-1974