Lutheran Churches Celebrate 50 Years

SEELEY LAKE - Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Seeley Lake joins its sister parish Faith Lutheran from Condon to celebrate their 50 year anniversary July 31 starting at 10 a.m. The whole community is invited to the dual service on 1655 Airport Road followed by a luncheon, program and the opportunity to visit with old friends and share memories.

In 1965 Reverend Al Pullmann canvassed the Seeley Lake and Condon areas and found out that there was a desire to establish a Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod (LCMS) parish in the Seeley-Swan Valley.

"This man came to the door and I didn't know who he was. He started asking me questions about starting a Lutheran church up here," said the last remaining founding member of Holy Cross Lutheran Esther Farra. "I was raised Lutheran so I said oh yeah, I would really be interested. A lot of people really went for the idea."

Al Martinson donated the land for the new church and rented a little cabin to the Pullmanns. Pastor Pullmann organized a Lutheran Mission Builder Camp (LMBC) made up of consecrated Christian teenage boys who stayed in the cabin for the summer.

"They volunteered part of their summer to serve their Lord in new mission areas in Seeley Lake and Condon," wrote Farra in the "Local Church History."

Members from congregations in Hamilton, Missoula and Kalispell also came to help with the building. They built Holy Cross and Faith Lutheran simultaneously.

"The mistakes we made at the one, we could fix at the other," said Farra.

While the churches were being built, the congregation met at various locations. The first services were held outdoors in the meadow on the Double Arrow Ranch near the Homestead Cabin. Later services were held in the J & M Mill cookhouse and in the old post office and mercantile on Morrell Creek. After the LMBC boys left for the summer, Pastor Pullmann moved his family into the cabin and services were also held there.

"We were all over but we held together and grew and grew," said Farra who estimated the church congregation was 20 to 30 members when it first started.

The first winter, Holy Cross was heated with a barrel wood stove in the back of the sanctuary.

"We huddled around the stove and had short services," wrote Farra in the church history. "The new furnace sure felt good that next winter."

With the help of donations, the church purchased Bibles, hymnals, wooden benches and chairs for seating and a pump organ. A couple of the members drove to Nebraska and picked up donated pews. Additional pews came from a church in Big Fork, Mont.

The first altar paraments were designed and made by Ethel Hoehn, Jo Engdahl and Esther Farra. They are still used today. Hoehn also made the stained glass that decorates the sanctuary.

The church has had a children's and an adults' choir on and off through the years.

Farra remembers making white caps with 15-20 big red bows for one of the early Christmas programs. The bows were made of wide red ribbon and put in a box for safe keeping until the program.

"Program time came but no bows," wrote Farra. "The search was on."

The program proceeded but the bows were never found. "You know, sometimes the cardboard boxes pile up at Christmas time and need to be eliminated – Yep! The husband decided to help out and took all the "empty boxes" out and set them on fire. He had no idea that one of the boxes contained the beautiful red bows," wrote Farra.

Marge Pullmann was the organist. She played a pump organ that was powered by a vacuum cleaner placed under the floor in the crawl space with the hose coming up through the floor. If the power failed or vacuum quit, one of the men would turn the hand crank located on the side of the organ so Marge could continue to play. The church acquired a newer model and the pump organ went with the Pullmanns when they took a call to Billings, Mont. Holy Cross acquired a newer, larger organ in 2015 and it was placed in the balcony with the piano.

Holy Cross started the first kindergarten in Seeley Lake. Hazel Foley was the first teacher. It closed when the elementary school started offering kindergarten.

Sylvia Martin and Fran Schiefelbein later started and taught a Christian pre-school program for several years.

There has also been adult confirmation offered at Holy Cross, the first Vacation Bible School was held in 1966 and Wednesday school followed the regular school day.

"Our elementary principle, Carol Meechem, kept Wednesdays free of school activities so the kids could participate in church activities," wrote Farra. "It was great as no pressure was put on the children to give up ballgames and practices."

The ladies of the church organized and joined Lutheran Women Missionary League, a chapter of the LCMS Lutheran Church, shortly after the congregation moved into the church. The women have made quilts for World Relief, send boxes to Samaritans' Purse Operations Christmas Child and hold a "free" yard sale and have a table at the Christmas Bazaar in Seeley Lake. They still exist today holding fundraisers to support missions, purchase items needed for the church and give financial support to youth who are attending college.

"There are only about 10 of us now but we are a busy bunch," said Farra who is the president. "It just never ends."

Holy Cross was dedicated July 19, 1970. There have been 11 pastors since 1966 starting with Pastor Pullmann. Pastor Erik Iverson is the current pastor and has been serving both the Seeley Lake and Condon parishes since 2006.

Several building and grounds improvements have happened since including: building a four-bedroom, two-bath parsonage on the church property; installing a new sound system in 1998; drilling a well in 2009; laying sod in 2010 and installing an underground sprinkler system; a fenced playground in 2013 and the addition of a new office in loving memory of Jim Farra. Farra said that it was always her husband's dream to have a new office and he was instrumental in building the church from the beginning.

The congregation has raised enough money to replace the roof and are discussing building a fellowship hall.

The church building has been used to serve the needs of its members and various community activities. It housed the Catholic Church congregation for a short time and is used now for the Joyful Noise Child Care and Alcoholics Anonymous.

Farra said the biggest change over the last 50 years is the age of the congregation.

"We call ourselves the gray-haired crowd," said Farra. "It's all over. I don't think the people are taking the time and Christian education isn't that important anymore."

Farra credits her faith in God, good friends and her church family for bringing her through the tough spots in life and the times of turmoil in the congregation.

"The Lord has truly blessed us over the first 50 years of our existence," wrote Farra. "Praise be to God and may He continue to bless us."

The complete history written by Esther Farra as well as historical church documents and photos have been compiled in a book and will be available for purchase at the celebration.