News
One final worship service
Scott Wagar
12/30/2013
Lesje Lutheran Church held its last service as a congregation before they closed their churches doors this past Tuesday with a Festival of Carols and Candles during its Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.
With the church closing, parishioners walked into the sanctuary and spent time sharing their memories of Lesje with laughter and tears, and at times they consoled one another knowing this worship would be their last service in the 114 year old church.
“I was very emotional on Christmas Eve as we celebrated Lesje’s final regular service,” said Becky Hanson, a member of Lesje. “I will miss the fellowship each Sunday with our friends so much. We are quite a close-knit little group and Lesje has been the center of our community for so long. It will never be quite the same again.”
Myron and Becky Hanson have been long time members of the church.
“The Hanson family has been part of the Lesje for as long as they have lived in Bottineau County,” Becky Hanson said. “Myron and his brother and sister were baptized and confirmed there, and then our children.
“Our daughter was married there and now has baptized two of our grandchildren there,” said Becky Hanson, who was the Sunday School and Bible School superintendent for 15 years and the organist for over 20 years. “It was very tough to say good-bye to this spiritual center of our lives.”
SERVICE
Lyle Gravseth started the service by ringing the church’s bells. Myron Hanson and Lance Kjelshus lead the Christmas Eve service with the readings while Wanda Gravseth was the candle lighter.
The service had three stages, which included “The Lighting of the Advent Wreath and Altar Candles,” “The Christmas Story in Word and Song” and the Christmas meditation “Why Shepherds?”
Through the ceremony, the congregation participated in song with such Christmas hymns as “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “Away in a Manager” and “Joy to the World.”
CANDLELIGHT SERVICE
The service ended with an old fashion candlelight service where the members said the Lord’s Prayer and sang “Silent Night, Holy Night” and ended the service with “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” keeping to the mission of the church of spreading the word of God.
Outside of area members who attended the Christmas Eve service, other individuals who grew up in Lesje traveled across the state to be part of the service. Janice (Boettcher) Kern, came with her family from Grafton, N.D., to take in the final church service. Her four sons, Kenny, Charlie, Tommy and Jack, participated in the service by performing the service’s special music on the piano.
Kenny played “Winter Rhapsody,” Charlie performed “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” Tommy played “Do You Hear What I Hear,” and Jack performed “We Three Kings.”
For Kern, whose family members were some of the first members of the church, she felt a true Christmas blessing watching her family participate in the last church service at Lesje.
“Knowing the Lesje Church, and being a part of special events and services, is an important part of the Boettcher and Hetland families. To have my children be a part of the final service makes me feel very fortunate,” Kern said. “It was a distance from our home in Grafton to be there on Christmas Eve, but certainly worth it.
“We are very thankful for the small number of families who have kept Lesje going in order for us to enjoy Christmas Eve one last time in that sanctuary,” Kern added. “It wasn’t difficult to understand why the church is closing but remembering all the happy and sad occasions that had taken place there made it an emotional service. I know my grandparents would have been very proud to see their four great-grandsons as a part of the final service.”
HISTORY
Lesje Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized on Dec. 1, 1899, with Rev. K.O. Raftshol of Bottineau as the church’s first pastor.
In 1905, the congregation constructed its first church, but in 1918 it was sold and the church members built the present day church.
After 114 years as a parish, the church has made the decision to close its doors because they can no longer obtain a pastor and the congregation has an active membership of only eight to 10 parishioners.
JULY SERVICE
Although the Christmas Eve service was officially Lesje’s final service, there will be a closing ceremony of the church in July. As for now, the church doors were closed on Christmas Eve until the July service.
Individuals, interested in weddings and funerals at the church, still have that option. If interested, call Myron Hanson at 243-6386.