Calvary Lutheran Church History

Nymore Norwegian Lutheran Church was formally organized on December 5, 1907.  Pastor Carl Amundsen was called as the first pastor of the small congregation.  Prior to formal organization, the Matthew and Marie Larson family had been conducting Sunday School classes for the Norwegian children of the area as well as services in their home in Nymore.  The Larsons also donated land for the original church building at Wood and 4th Street and for a cemetery on Roosevelt Road.

The original building was built in 1908-1909 by mostly volunteer labor.  In 1964 the congregation moved several blocks east to 4th and Grant Street into a new structure.  The church name was also changed in 1964 to Calvary Lutheran Church  A second move to a new building occurred in 1982 after the current structure was completed south of Bemidji along Highway 71 South.

Past Church Buildings

History of Pastors 1907 - Present

Carl Amundsen 1907 - 1912 1930 - 1934	George Larson 1913 - 1916	Olaus Paulson Grambo 1916 - 1922
Hans Edwardsen Bode 1922 - 1923	Oscar C. Olson 1923 - 1927	Andrew Hegre 1928 - 1930
Harold Martinus Bueide 1934 - 1940	Conrad S. Jergenson 1940 - 1943	Christian Martin Iverson 1943 - 1954
Theodore A. Berkland 1954 - 1960	Eugene Anderson 1960 - 1965	Russell Anderson 1965 - 1973
Selmer Hilde 1973 - 1974	Luther N. Abrahamson 1974 - 1985	Keith Zeh 1982 - 1991
Mark Vinje 1986 - 1989	Cheryl Berg 1990 - 1994	John Heruth 1992 - 1999
Daniel Heath 1995 - 2001	Greg Isaacson 2000 - 2004	Genelle Genkinger 2001 -