According to estimates, during the first thirty-five years Baptists were in Denmark, one out of every six or seven baptized believers migrated to the United States. Although the cradle of Danish Baptists in America is Wisconsin, many were attracted to the fertile plains of Minnesota. Danish people were primarily agricultural people, and farming interests led some of these people to Clarks Grove, Minnesota.

Steven Keillor elaborates on Minnesota’s Danish Baptists in his book about Minnesota rural co-operatives. His discussion of Danish cooperative creameries and the first such creamery in Minnesota at Clarks Grove also acquaints us with Danish Baptists.

The Baptist faith of farmers in Clarks Grove caused Norwegian-American Lutherans and Irish Catholics to form their own creameries rather than join the one in Clarks Grove. Keillor puts it this way: “The economic cooperative was formed in the church’s social community. Led by the church’s leaders who became its early officers, its organizational meetings were held at the church. The same men oversaw both the Sunday schedule and the cow-feeding schedule. Mutual accountability aided both church and creamery. The Baptist church was the de facto sponsor of the creamery, and to this unofficial sponsor went many of the benefits.”

 Unlike their Swedish counterparts, Danish believers in Clarks Grove did not maintain ethnic ties with their European ancestors. In fact, Keillor tells his readers that the community didn’t strive to maintain its Danish heritage. There were no schools to teach Danish, Sunday school was conducted in English, and the older folks often spoke English. “Its Baptist heritage took precedence over its Danish one,” remarked Keillor. If Danish-American farmers wanted to use Danish models, they could have moved to a Danish Lutheran community like Tyler in Lincoln County where the Danish culture was practiced and taught. That’s not to say that there were no Danish-speaking Baptist churches in Minnesota. Your Baptist history writer has been a member of two Minnesota Baptist churches that began in the early 1900s as Danish-speaking churches.

Cooperative Commonwealth:  Co-Operatives in Rural Minnesota 1859-1939 by Steven Keillor, Minnesota Historical Society, 2000.

  Seventy-five Years of Danish Baptist Missionary Work in America published by the Danish Baptist General Conference of America, 1931

Scandia believers met in the log home of Andrew Peterson. The first baptism took place February 17, 1856, in Lake Clearwater (Lake Waconia) after men chopped a hole in the ice for the chilly immersion! Construction of a 20 x 24-foot log building began in April 1857 and was completed by July. F.O. Nilssen preached the first sermon in the new building July 12.

When Vilhelm Moberg was researching for his novels about emigration from Sweden to the United States, he discovered Peterson’s diaries about his life as a Swedish immigrant. Moberg considered those diaries a valuable resource for his books.

The Swedish Baptist Conference of Minnesota is believed to have organized at this church in 1858, and the original building now resides on the campus of Bethel University.

Swedish Baptists arrived in Meeker County in 1857. Again, Nilssen came to their aid, as well as John Erickson and John A. Peterson from the Scandia church. Nilssen baptized several believers in 1859, and the Baptist Church of Swede Grove (Acton) was then organized. The Sioux Uprising in 1862 resulted in the deaths of over 100 residents, and many others were scattered. The present Grove City Baptist Church was organized in 1866.

One early Swedish Baptist church widely recognized in Christian circles today is Bethlehem Baptist of Minneapolis, originally named First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis. An offshoot of First Baptist, First Swedish organized over a blacksmith shop at 2^nd Street and Nicollet Avenue on June 22, 1871. Most of the charter members had been members of Minneapolis’ First Baptist.

Although the Baptist Union paid the $1,000 selling price, Amory Gale bought the corner lot on 12^th Avenue and 6^th Street. Believers met in a building there until it burned to the ground. During the first ten years of ministry, four different pastors led the church.

In June 1881, Dr. Frank Peterson assumed the leadership of the 127 members. He thought Scandinavian immigrants made the best Baptists because they were Protestants, they were religious, and they weren’t communists or socialists. Very few were peddlers, organ grinders, or beggars. When Peterson left in 1891, membership had increased to 445. By 1893, with 550 members, the church was the largest Swedish Baptist church in America.

First Swedish Baptist added bi-monthly English services in 1893. Swedish language services were discontinued in the 1930s, and the name was changed to Bethlehem Baptist in the 1940s.

The church sent out many missionaries, and helped establish several Twin City Baptist churches. Today the church, led by John Piper, is located on 13^th Avenue South and is affiliated with the Minnesota Baptist Conference and the Baptist General Conference.

www.bethel.edu/bgc-archives/tour/minnesota

www.oakwoodonline.org/images/junenews.pdf

History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Vol. 1. Edited by Isaac Atwater, 1893.

The first chapters of that [Swedish Baptist] history have been written in prisons and by those who have suffered the confiscation of homes and possessions.They have been written by persons who have been confined in prisons upon a starving diet—many of them serving life sentences. 

It was the fugitives of that time and the exiles from their fatherland who sought homes in this country and found them in the deep forests of Minnesota and upon her wide prairies. 

The religious liberty of this country inspired the first Swedish Baptists of the state, for they felt that they were martyrs on account of their faith. They felt that they were strangers in a land far from that of their birth—strangers in language and customs—but they had their old Swedish Bible and their hymn book with them.

Strand praised these people for their “unmistakable faith in the Word of God.” A number of them had memorized many chapters from the Bible. He goes on to say that “state prisons of Sweden were the first theological seminaries for the Swedish Baptists.”

When these believers arrived in America, some to Minnesota, they organized churches, but they often had to ride 15 to 20 miles in an oxcart to get to the service. Most of the ministry work in Swedish Baptist churches in their early days was done by laymen, but Amory Gale, a Minnesota missionary, would often assist the Swedes. They didn’t understand when he spoke English, but they always understood his great loving soul and considered him as one among them. The fact that he was an American was special to the Swedish immigrants.

Ensuing posts will discuss the organization of a few Swedish and other Scandinavian Baptist churches.

A History of Swedish Americans in Minnesota by Algot E. Strand, 1910. Chapter 12.

Fredrik Olaus Nilsson

F. O. Nilssen, an influential Swedish Baptist, was exiled by the king of Sweden because of his Baptist beliefs. He arrived in America in 1853 with twenty-one other Swedes. He was among six families who settled in Houston County. They suffered illness, fire, and poverty in the early years, but that didn’t prevent them from establishing a Baptist church August 18, 1853. Nilssen then helped other Swedish groups establish churches before moving back to the Houston County area in 1869, where he pastored at the church and was later buried in the Houston Baptist Cemetery.

Becklund writes that early records of the Baptist Scandinavian Conference were lost on a streetcar in Minneapolis, so the exact date of the conference’s beginning isn’t known. Amory Gale, the State Itinerant Missionary Explorer, had encouraged Nilssen to organize a Scandinavian conference. Gale assured Nilssen that the American Baptist Home Mission Society would support such a conference.

Swedish Baptists met in Scandia in September 1858 and formed the Swedish Baptist Conference with 160 members. Circumstances changed drastically in 1861 when the Civil War began in the East and South, but tragedy hit close to home in 1862 during the Dakota Uprising.  Strand put it this way in his book:

Everything looked dark, and there were many who wondered whether the morning of a brighter day would ever dawn. However even these dark clouds were scattered. The war was over. The soldiers came back and the fugitives returned to their homesteads….The old, beloved book which had been their companion across the sea was again brought forth and the Christian housefather gathered his family for prayer and praise to God.

The Scandinavian conference was essentially under the umbrella of the Minnesota Baptist Convention. It looked to the MBC for finances and for missionaries to work among the Swedish people. In turn, the Scandinavian Conference published all its annual reports through the MBC, and finances were funneled through the executive secretary of the MBC.

^Sources:

^{The History of the Minnesota Baptist Convention by David Becklund, 1967.}

Minnesota Historic Sites

^{A History of Swedish Americans of Minnesota by Algot E. Strand, 1910.}

Dr. George H. Keith

Minutes of the first Minnesota Baptist Convention(MBC) annual meeting, August 29, 1859, record 35 delegates in attendance. George H. Keith, Minneapolis, presided over the business meeting. One resolution provided guidelines for those who could participate. Another allowed visiting brethren to participate in the deliberations.

George H. Keith read a report presenting the articles of incorporation. John B. Pope read the constitution and by laws which were then adopted by the delegates. T.R. Cressey spoke from Isaiah 52:l on “The Elements of Strength in our Frontier Zion.”  Following this message, a nominating committee was appointed.

The afternoon session opened in prayer, followed by the discussion and adoption of the remaining articles of the constitution and bylaws. The report of the nominating report was given, and the following officers were elected:  president, George H. Keith (Minneapolis); vice president, Samuel Dooley (Shakopee), John D. Ford (Winona), JE Crooker (Owatonna), C. Ayer, (Le Sueur); secretary, John D. Pope (St. Pau); and treasurer, William Wakefield (St. Paul).

The evening session, designated “a Fraternal Religious Conference,” was led by CM Fuller and drew many people. A collection of $5.08 was received at the close of the conference.

Four resolutions were presented and adopted in the evening session. “Resolved, That Theological Education with the Baptists, especially in the West, demands greater consideration and more ample facilities. Resolved, That it is expedient to establish at present only one Theological Seminary for the Baptist denomination in the Northwestern States and Territories. Resolved, That we recommend to the Convention to raise . . .at least $400 to be expended under the direction of the Board for Missionary Purposes for the Convention.” The final resolution directed the secretary to file a certified copy of the Articles of Incorporation in a County Clerk’s office and with the Secretary of State.

Appointments to the following committees were made:  On Foreign Missions, On Home Missions, On Sabbath Schools and Publications, and On Education. During the evening session, a committee (JD Ford, George H. Keith, and Erasmus Westcott) report on Minnesota Central University stated, “We deeply regret the financial embarrassment under which the University is now laboring, and sympathize with those who, in their praiseworthy efforts to promote education, suffer in any respect on account of the same. But in view of our own immediate financial necessities, both as individuals and churches, we do not see how relief can be afforded by us at the present time; notwithstanding, we would encourage the Trustees to make every effort to relieve the Institution.”

The new convention agreed to meet with the Baptist Church at Minneapolis on Friday before the second Sabbath in September 1860, for its next meeting. Thus four associations with 66 churches and a membership of 1,672 organized the Minnesota Baptist Convention just three months after Minnesota became a state.

History of the Minnesota Baptist Convention by David Becklund, 1967.

In 1851, two years after Congress declared Minnesota a territory, the Minnesota Baptist Association (MBA) was organized in St. Paul. Its first meeting was held September 24, 1852. This group considered itself a state organization, and most likely it did encompass the settled area of Minnesota Territory at that time; however, the association later became the Twin City Baptist Association.

On August 27, 1856, delegates to the Southern Minnesota Baptist Association (SMBA) met for the first time in Chatfield. Membership was open to all churches that could comply with the doctrines detailed in the Articles of Faith approved by delegates. This association sent messengers to the 1856 MBA annual meeting in central Minnesota, and both associations passed resolutions favoring the formation of a state Baptist organization.

Becklund wrote that the “first definite move to organize a state convention in Minnesota was made at the third session of the Southern Minnesota Baptist Association on August 27, 1858.” Held at the Baptist church in Saratoga, the meeting had 41 representatives from 16 churches with a total membership of 400. Delegates unanimously adopted the following resolution: Resolved, that time has fully come when the Baptists of Minnesota should organize a State Convention in order to prosecute the work of domestic Missions.

The MBA, at its 7th annual meeting, also expressed the desire for a state organization. The actual planning meeting for the proposed Minnesota Baptist Convention took place at the Hastings Baptist Church September 8, 1858. Any Baptist church contributing to the organization was entitled to a delegate. Officers included a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, 2 auditors, and a board of not more than 15 trustees. All trustees “must be members of Baptist churches, working in harmony with the Convention.”

One of the main reasons for organizing a convention was to encourage the Home Mission Society to supply missionaries and funds for Minnesota. Delegates from 4 associations met on Monday, August 29, 1859, in the Baptist church at Winona to form the Minnesota Baptist Convention, known today as the Minnesota Baptist Association (MBA). Delegates from the following churches participated:

Information taken from A History of the Minnesota Baptist Convention by David Becklund, 1967.

Pastor Daniel Mead has led this congregation since 1988. The church has worshiped at its 1108 Westwood Drive location since 1970, but First Baptist’s heritage dates back to 1856 when the Faribault church was one of six organized by Timothy Cressey in Minnesota. For two years he served as pastor of this church that began with 20 members.

The first baptism of new converts indicates the hearty, brave character of our Minnesota Baptist forefathers. Thirteen converts were immersed in the Straight River on February 7, 1858, while 20 Sioux stood among the spectators.

Ladies of the church paid $158 for land to erect the first house of worship which was dedicated February 4, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War and less than 6 months after the Sioux Uprising in southern Minnesota.

This building served the congregation until they built a new building in 1918. Under the leadership of Pastor A.E. Kelley, the church joined the General Association of Baptist Churches (GARB).

The church began its AWANA program in 1967 and continues it today. First Baptist had an active deaf ministry for a number of years under the leadership of Jim Spellman, who has now retired. Outreach to the deaf is now limited, and the church would like to find a deaf missionary pastor to carry on this important work.

^{Resources:
firstbaptistfaribault.org
Telephone conversation with Pastor Mead}

Worship services were held in homes, and Missionary E.W. Cressey, brother of Timothy Cressey, led the fellowship of believers. The group met on the second floor over a store on 2nd Avenue South. An 1893 history of Minneapolis describes the meeting room this way:

The room was rough, and its furnishings of the rudest. Seats were few, but not for believers, made of planks and supported by empty boxes and nail kegs. The pulpit corresponded, a platform six or eight inches high, for top board smoothed by a saw and supported by two side pieces of the same sort, with pieces of lath nailed on to brace it up. The worshippers, however, were not troubled by their uncouth surroundings. Prayer, praise, and holy thoughts hallowed the place for them.

Rev. A.A. Russell candidated and was called as pastor in this hall on June 2, 1854. A Sunday school began a month later, and a library opened with two dozen books. A number of men served as pastors for short periods of time. Rev. Amory Gale led the congregation from July 1857 until June 1858. He left to become General Missionary Explorer in Minnesota, a position he held for 16 years.

The building erected at 3rd & Nicollet was the largest meeting place in Minneapolis at the time, but by 1857, the congregation built a larger house of worship at 5th & Hennepin. The congregation’s final move occurred in 1885 when it found its present home at 1021 Hennepin Ave. Charles A. Pillsbury and his sons Charles A. and Frederic donated $8,000 for the church organ.

First Baptist planted four churches in the 1870s and 1880s, including Fourth Baptist, currently located in Plymouth, and 1st Swedish Baptist, known as Bethlehem Baptist today.

William Bell Riley, nicknamed the Grand Old Man of Fundamentalism, served as pastor from 1897 to 1942. Riley’s fight for the fundamentals of the faith will be discussed at a later time, but First Baptist, Minneapolis no longer aligns itself with Fundamental Baptists.

Sources:
History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Volume 1, edited by Isaac Atwater, 1893.
fbcminneapolis.org