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Calvary
Lutheran Church, a community of believers in Christ,
is a member of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. Our ministry extends to
the Southwestern suburbs of the city of Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
Who We Are
Our Mission
Our Early History
Who We Are
Calvary Lutheran Church is a congregation
of 260 members located in a residential neighborhood of
Edina, Minnesota. Edina is a first ring suburb of
Minneapolis with a fine reputation for its high quality
of life. The city has placed a high priority upon its
schools, government services and the continual upgrading
of its housing and businesses.
Calvary has experienced what most congregations located
in first ring suburbs have experienced during the past 25
years. Over the years there has been a gradual aging of
the membership of Calvary and a general exodus of younger
families to the new suburban areas. However, that
situation is now changing. Many of Edina's older
residents are selling their homes and this is making it
possible for younger families to move back into Edina.
Here at Calvary we find that our Sunday School is once
again growing and that most of our visitors and new
members are younger people looking for a smaller more
intimate church experience. During the past five years
our average Sunday morning worship attendance has grown
from 75 to 105 and our Sunday school has grown from just
10 children to 30 children.
Our congregational life at Calvary centers on worship,
and we seek to provide worship services that are both
inspiring and meaningful. We also place a high priority
on Christian education and have a full schedule of
learning opportunities for all age groups. We also seek
to surround all these things with warm Christian
fellowship.
Everyone is welcome at Calvary. We are a congregation
that reaches out to all those who live in our
neighborhood and beyond it. We want to be the
"welcome place" for both young and old alike.
If you are looking for a church home, we invite you to
come and be a part of our growing congregation.
Calvary has served the Edina community for over 60 years.
With God's help we will continue to bring the good news
of salvation and life in Jesus Christ to our neighborhood
for years to come.
Pastor Robert Hall
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Here is Our
Mission
Our mission at Calvary Lutheran Church is to accept
others as our Lord accepts us. To provide varied
opportunities for people to grow in and to express their
faith through worship, music, Christian education,
Christian fellowship, and community service. We seek to
reach out into the community and offer fellowship to
those who are without a church home. We work
cooperatively with other congregations with whom we share
common interests in Christian education, fellowship and
service. We believe that the Gospel story is for the
whole world and support the Global Mission of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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Our Early
History
On Sunday morning, January 28, 1934, 21 children and
teachers met in the Cahill Schoolhouse to hold their
first Sunday School Service. That evening 35 people
gathered at the Cahill School for a Service of Worship
conducted by the Reverend Dorrance Jensen, who was then
the pastor of Wooddale Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park.
This was the first worship service for what was to become
Calvary Lutheran Church. On Palm Sunday 1934, 30 people
were received into membership.
After four successful years as a branch of Wooddale
Lutheran Church, a meeting was held on February 28, 1938,
to organize Calvary as a separate church. The members
present named the new body Calvary Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Cahill. The first Church Council consisted of
Leonard Palmer, Arthur Petersen, Mel Vietor, Oscar Grant,
E.O. Amundson and Arthur Amundson.
On March 18, 1938, the congregation met to sign the
necessary papers to incorporate Calvary Lutheran Church.
On May 19, 1938, the first service was held in the
basement of the new church building at 70th Street and
Cahill Road. This basement had been dug by hand and with
the use of horses.
Plans had been made to erect a small chapel, and this was
completed in the fall of 1938. The first service in the
new church building was held on Sunday night, December
11, 1938. The membership of the church was then 36. The
dedication for this building was not held until October
of 1939. By January 28, 1944, the tenth anniversary of
the church's original beginnings, the first mortgage note
had been paid off
The Reverend H.H.W. Egler served as pastor of the Calvary
Lutheran Congregation from 1944 to 1949. During this
period he was also the pastor of St. Andrew's Lutheran
Church in Minneapolis. In June of 195 1, the Reverend
Michael Furney arrived to become Calvary's first
full-time pastor.
By 1956, the congregation had grown to a baptized
membership of 350 and a program was underway to build new
facilities at 6817 Antrim Road to house the growing
congregation. The needs of the congregation had grown
faster than the room the facilities provided.
On August 9, 1959, groundbreaking took place for this new
and larger church building and the first worship service
was held there on May 8, 1960. Pastor David Archie was
Calvary's pastor during this important time. When Calvary
was founded, it was destined to build again one day, and
it did. This continues to be an ongoing process even
today. Calvary Lutheran Church has been blessed by God -
its founders had a vision and took action when needed.
Can our vision, or our convictions, be anything less
today?
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