Pastor Chris Kumpula June 20, 2023
Beginning in 1903, the old downtown Zion Lutheran Church building served as our home to worship, serve, grieve, and celebrate as a congregation. Buildings are not ministries, but they are necessary tools for housing them. Today brings an important close to fruitful chapters of our ministry housed in the old location.
After 120 years of faithfully tolling beneath the old church's steeple, the bell has been removed and will find a new home home on the hill with us at Zion. The decision to move the bell was not made without reflection or contemplation. This bell has been witness to countless moments of celebration and solace. It has tolled for weddings, during funerals, and beckoned worshippers to gather for generations. It's removal also mitigates ongoing maintenance needs of the old building.
Today concludes the transfer of property from Zion Lutheran Church to Bakken Community Connections begun last year. While Zion's mission has continued in our new building on the hill for a few years now, a new mission has filled old walls downtown. This is why the congregation decided to bless the ministry of Bakken Community Connections and the ministries currently housed there (Clothes Closet, Youth for Christ, Dakota Hope Clinic) for the glory of Christ rather than see the site languish in disuse.
Transferring the bell to the hill represents continuity—a bridge between our past and our future. It signifies the resilience and timelessness of our stance on Scripture that has seen us through the ministry of over 55 pastors and thousands of laypeople. The echo of its toll will remind us of our heritage and invite new people to join Zion's mission to show the love of Jesus through what we teach and do.
If you happened to be downtown to witness the removal, I hope you better understand the significance of this farewell to our old church building. Pray for God's blessing on the ministry that continues there. -PK
On the way to Zion,
Pastor Chris Kumpula
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