On Palm Sunday, March 29, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church unveiled its historical marker. It is marker #26 installed by the Iola Historical Society.

Standing just beside the entrance addition built in 1990, the marker is easily accessible for parking near and viewing.

Pastor Gail Kenny unveiled the marker, and IHS President Cliff Mishler gave a presentation on the church and its structure. The program began in 2010 with the unveiling of Historical Iola No. 1, chronicling the 100th anniversary of the Iola Winter Sports Club and its ski jump locations throughout its history.

Greg Loescher, the mastermind behind the marker program, also made remarks.

The plaque carries the headline all in caps, SERVING TO THE “GLORY OF GOD.”

The following information is carried on the plaque.

Organization of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church began on Jan. 26, 1904, with plans to build a church. On Feb. 17, church designs were approved, with future wiring installed to “get it lit by means of electricity.” The building contract was $7,734, with $560 added to install “(stained) window glass.”  Incorporated as the Norwegian Evangelical (United) Lutheran Church on July 16, 1904, the church’s first service was held on Nov. 20, 1904, and its first annual meeting on Dec. 3, 1904. The church was formally dedicated to the “Glory of God” on Sunday, Nov. 5, 1905, by Pastor N.J. Ellestad, assisted by pastors Farseth of New Hope, Aasgaard, Ove, Kluxdale, Hegland, and Hoglum. One Dec. 5, 1921, church formally changed from Evangelical Lutheran to Our Savior’s.

The history of Our Savior’s can be tracked to 1853/54, when the Lutheran ministry began in this area. On Nov. 4, 1954, Pastor Oulas Frederick Duus became the first pastor of the Scandinavia Lutheran Church. The first service was held in that church on Sept. 17, 1857. Conflicting Lutheran doctrine prompted the organization of a First Norwegian Lutheran Church in Iola in 1889, with its church being built on South Main Street. In 1937, the Zion Church merged with Our Savior’s.

The back of the plaque lists all the pastors of Our Savior’s, starting with the first resident pastor, Jens Mathieson, 1905-08, through the current Pastor Gail Kenny.

The plaque continues:

In its early years, Our Savior’s and the Hitterdahl congregations briefly united to share pastoral services. The joint congregations purchased the former Ole. J. Olson home at Iola and Jackson streets as a parsonage. In the teens and 1920s, Our Savior’s also enjoyed a pastoral relationship with the Ogdensburg Lutheran Church. Synod relationships of the church were with the United Lutheran Synod (1904-17), Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (1917-46), Evangelical Lutheran Church (1946-60), American Lutheran Church (1960-87), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1987-present).

As a side note, the 1904 building contract of $7,734, with $560 for the stained glass window, would be equivalent to more than $300,000 in 2026, according to an inflation calculator.