First Lutheran Church Celebrates 175th Anniversary with Service and Community Luncheon

First Lutheran Church in Galesburg will celebrate its 175th anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 25, with a 9:30 a.m. service and a community chicken luncheon. The congregation, founded in 1851 by Swedish immigrants, has remained active despite being a smaller group, with approximately 75 active members.

The church’s current brick and stone building, which marks 100 years of its own, stands on the original site where the congregation was established near the corner of North Seminary and Water streets. Bob Clark, president of the First Lutheran Church Council, described the congregation as “very alive” and “very mission-oriented,” emphasizing the building’s historical significance.

Clark and Dave Howland, the church’s treasurer and chairman of its anniversary committee, shared details about the upcoming celebration during an interview on Galesburg’s Morning News. The 175th anniversary will be marked during the Sunday service, followed by a luncheon catered by PZ’s Place in the fellowship hall. Attendees planning to stay for the luncheon are asked to call the church office in advance to coordinate group numbers.

Historical items from the church’s past will be on display in the hospitality hall. Howland noted that the congregation outgrew its first small wooden church and a second one built in 1871 before construction of the current building began in 1926. A restoration of the sanctuary in 2025 added central air conditioning for the first time.

The church’s oak woodwork was crafted by Hawkinson Manufacturing of Galesburg. Howland highlighted the 100-year-old doors between the sanctuary and the hospitality hall, which stand 30 feet tall and still fold open with one person. Today, the congregation runs a food pantry three times a month, serving about 140 people each time. The church also supports six Knox College choir members and collects goods each November for Lutheran World Relief.

In the interview, Clark and Howland discussed Carl Sandburg’s ties to the church, a 1906 split that led to the formation of Trinity Lutheran Church, the digital organ that replaced the church’s failing pipe organ, and the reasons behind the clustering of many large churches downtown.

Source: Read the original report