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Thursday, July 17, 2008
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Humble house of worship The Log Church is 25 Senior Reporter CROSSLAKE - Twenty-five years ago, church members stood inside four log walls and had their first church service in The Log Church. It included a view of the sky above.
The Crosslake Evangelical Free Church, known as The Log Church, added a roof of course, but longtime church members Harold and Arla Johnson remember the wonder of that first service.
Coming to services inside a church members built with their own hands was momentous.
"There was just a wonderful, warm feeling," Arla Johnson said.
Many members worked on the project - building, cleaning up the work site or cooking for the laborers. Harold Johnson, who served on the church board, said 90 percent of the effort for the original church was through volunteers. The volunteer effort continued when more logs were used for a church addition in the late 1980s.
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It's been 25 years since a mostly volunteer effort built The Crosslake Evangelical Free Church, known as The Log Church. Church members will celebrate the anniversary this weekend. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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But the church didn't start with the logs. Members describe themselves as an eclectic Christian group who come from a variety of religious and social backgrounds and have a strong support for mission work.
The Evangelical Free Church's roots began in the 1960s when Stan and Fran Nelson, who had a summer cabin on Crosslake, felt the need for a summer church. That summer, the assembly started meeting in the old game and fish building. Soon they were packed into the small building. And over time, the summer service schedule was extended into the fall. In order to grow, members decided they needed to build their own church.
A gift of 3 acres just off Crow Wing County Highway 66 in Crosslake helped the process.
Harold Johnson, blessed with an encyclopedic recall of the church's history, said work on clearing the property continued in the winter of 1983.
"Stan Nelson, who originally started the root congregation, he envisioned a log church in the setting up here and boy we jumped at it," Harold Johnson said.
"It just seemed like the logs were so perfect for being in the woods to actually have a building constructed of the trees that God created that was very meaningful," Arla Johnson said.
The Norway pine logs came from Ely. The work effort to put the logs together came from the members in Crosslake. Robert Westlund was instrumental in the construction.
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The log construction was revisited when an addition was placed on The Log Church, which was originally built 25 years ago. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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"We had such an outpouring of volunteer labor," Harold Johnson said. "People took their vacations, ... mostly Free Church people, and would come up here and help with the building."
A neighbor, a stone mason, watched the work and volunteered to construct a stone fireplace for the church, which was dedicated in October 1983.
This weekend the congregation, now with about 180 members, will celebrate the anniversary.
Pastor Fred Cressman said God has brought a sense of unity and genuine caring among the rich blend of church members, who have a desire to reach out and help each other.
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Harold Johnson (left), Arla Johnson, Pastor Fred Cressman, Jim Stevenson and Dori Stevenson, of The Log Church in Crosslake, looked through a book of photographs documenting the church's construction 25 years ago. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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Cressman said: "Ultimately we are celebrating God's faithfulness that empowered it all and worked human hands to accomplish his will and purpose."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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