2. Congregation Histories : Minnesota

Underwood

Unitarian Church of Underwood, Minnesota

The Unitarian Church of Underwood, Minnesota (pop. 332) can celebrate its centennial in 1989. Founded by a group of Norwegian immigrants as the Free Christian Church, it has persisted all those years in a conservative and predominately Lutheran community.

Its founding is related directly to Kristofer Janson, Norwegian minister and poet, who spent some time at Harvard before traveling and lecturing in the Midwest. He established Unitarian societies and churches in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hanska, Underwood, Fergus Falls, Brainerd, and Crookston in Minnesota and at Hudson, Wisconsin. He made trips to Underwood in 1888 when at least one meeting was held in a blacksmith shop. And he made six trips there in 1890.

First trustees at Underwood were Hans P. Bjorge, Peter Jensen, Martin O. Nass, Christian O. Kolstad, Anna C. Kolstad and Josepha Medjaa. For a number of years the minutes were written in Norwegian.

First meetings at Underwood were held in the Liberal Union Hall, which the congregation purchased in 1894 for $300. The hall has undergone many changes but it is still the Underwood church, in the same block as the more affluent Sverdrup Lutheran Church.

For a numbers the Underwood church had a resident minister who lived in a parsonage purchased by the Women’s Alliance. A subsidy, amounting to as much as 80 percent of the minister’s salary, was discontinued by the American Unitarian Association in 1929.

The church had its ups and downs. Many non-Unitarians helped keep the church active when it no longer had a resident minister. A merger with the Presbyterians was proposed in 1949 and affiliation was proposed in 1964 with the Congregational Conference. Both proposals were voted down and many Unitarian Universalist ministers have come to Underwood to speak since 1965. The have included Dr. Dana Greeley of Boston, Arthur Foote from St. Paul, John Cummins from Minneapolis, and others from Winnipeg, Hanska, Duluth, and the Twin Cities.

Survival of the Unitarian Church at Underwood is due primarily to the efforts of John Gronner (1903–1981) who received the Unsung Unitarian Universalist Award in 1979 and was cited as “the Light on the Prairie.” He was the church’s president for 25 years and kept the church “functioning as a regional outpost of our mission,” the plaque reads. He was the son of Norwegian immigrants who were among pioneer members of the church.

The name of the church was changed in 1965 to the Unitarian Church of Underwood when changes also were made in the constitution.

The church presently has about 55 members, many of whom live in Fergus Falls and a few of whom travel 50 miles to services that are held twice a month from September to June. Picnics have become a monthly event in the summer and there are occasional other social gatherings.

Attempts are made to secure a Unitarian Universalist minister once a month. Other speakers are engaged from the community, from Fargo or Bismarck and they speak on a wide variety of topics. A religious education program is carried out at the time of services and there are occasional potluck dinners. Marguerite Andrews of Pelican Rapids is the current church president.

(Author not noted)