The original church was 30×22 feet, with an 11×10 foot vestibule. A large area for the altar and a bell tower were added sometime in the early 1900s. A local craftsman, Nels Dahlman, built the pulpit, altar and communion rail. The interior walls and ceiling are pressed metal and still in good condition. In the early days, women and children sat on one side of the chuch and the men on the other, which was the custom of the time. Chairs were used in the church until about 1956 when pews were obtained from another church. In 1956, a former Finnish church in French Lake was purchased for use as a dining hall, and the chairs were moved there. The dining hall was used for dinners, Ladies Aid meetings, social functions and semi-annual Eielsen Synod conferences. The dining hall was sold in 1995. In 1902, the charter members (minus A.J. Lindberg) and also Ole D. Berg and Nels Lidblom signed Articles of Incorporation in French Lake before the Justice of the Peace. The document was left for safekeeping. In 1997, 95 years later, Chris Lantto of French Lake found it in a safe and returned it to Immanuel. In the meantime, the original spelling Emmanuel had been changed to Immanuel. Rev. O.K. Vangsness was the first pastor. He served six years. The first birth recorded in the church was that of Mathilde Danielson, March 16, 1889. The first marriage was that of Martin Olsen and Marie Hanson, Dec. 31, 1892. Rev. Stener Stenby (1861-1941), pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Eielsen Synod, Clear Lake, Iowa, was called to be pastor at Immanuel. From 1898 to 1904, he traveled to French Lake by train monthly or when there was a need. In the early 1900s, Erick Person (Edwin Erickson’s grandfather) became the first Sunday School superintendent. Rev. Amund Weik (1861-1922) served Immanuel from 1905-1916. He was pastor of the Eielsen Church at 17th and Lake Street in south Minneapolis and traveled to other Eielsen Synod churches and home missions. The Rev. John O. Blaness (1879-1968) was called to be pastor of Immanuel in 1916, and served 52 years until his death in 1968. Pastor Blaness and his family moved from Gary, S.D., to a farm by Lake Francis in French Lake Township in May 1916. He and nephew Clifford Blaness traveled by wagon and mule team and his wife Guro traveled by train with four children – Olaf, Beatrice, Gerhard and Marie – accompanied by brother-in-law Lauritz Christofferson. Gladys and Bernard (Benny) Blaness were born at French Lake. Pastor Blaness was Immanuel’s first resident pastor, however, his responsibilities included traveling to other Eielsen churches and home missions. At first, he traveled by train and then by car, starting out in any weather. He had both a Model T and a Model A before being presented a 1937 Ford Coupe from Lundeen Ford in Annandale as a gift from the Jackson, Minn., and Centerville, S.D., Eielsen Synod congregations. That car went well over 200,000 miles. Pastor Blaness regularly visited churches and home missions in more than 25 towns in six states (Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana). He was very dedicated to his work. Rev. Blaness also served as pastor at Bethania Evangelical Lutheran Church at Rice Lake, Stockholm Township, near Cokato. He would often conduct services at Immanuel Sunday morning and at Rice Lake Sunday afternoon. There were many people in the area baptized, confirmed or married by Pastor Blaness. Couples would often arrive at the Blaness home with marriage licenses in hand. If Rev. Blaness were working at the farm, he would always clean up and dress up before performing the ceremony. Someone told recently about how two couples (sisters) arrived at the Blaness home to be married in August of 1948. Rev. Blaness was dressed in a suit ready to leave for the church in Jackson. He conducted the double ceremony in English, but included a few Norwegian words. It was his birthday that day, and Mrs. Blaness invited them all to have coffee and cake. After Rev. Blaness died in 1968, at age 88, the Rev. Thore Larson (1904-1982) of Jackson became pastor. Pastor Larson served Immanuel from 1968 until his death in 1982, dividing his time between Stall Norwegian Church of rural Jackson, Immanuel in French Lake and the other remaining churches in the synod, Centerville, S.D., and Taylor and Lodi, Wis., a pastorate of more than 650 miles. By 1968, the Eielsen churches in Minneapolis and Rice Lake, near Cokato, had closed. In 2007, Immanuel is the only active church that had been affiliated with the Eielsen Synod. In 1982, Pastor Thore Larson’s son the Rev. Truman Larson became pastor and continued serving Immanuel and the church in Jackson until it closed. Pastor Truman Larson is the only remaining ordained pastor in the Eielsen Synod. Until 2001, he has driven to French Lake one Sunday a month to speak at Immanuel. In 2001, Pastor Larson accepted a call to be full-time pastor at a Hauge Synod church closer to his home in Jackson. All of the pastors from 1898-2001 have been Norwegian. Pastors Stenby, Weik and Blaness were born in Norway.
