What was a country Christmas in Minnesota in the 1800s like? Simpler, quieter and lacking in electricity or central heating.
Caretakers of the Old Salem Shrine of the United Methodist Church in Inver Grove Heights will open the doors of the Dakota County landmark at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 5 and invite the public in for a service that doubles as a fundraiser for the 146-year-old building.
The annual Candlelight Epiphany Service will include candles, lanterns, a potbelly wood-burning stove, a message by Rev. Harold Lang and Christmas carols sung to an antique pump organ.
Although the church is owned by the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, the building and adjoining cemetery grounds are maintained solely by donations given at this service and another held in June.
“We depend upon attendance to receive donations for the upkeep,” said Jill Lewis, chair of the church’s trustees committee. She urges residents to make the service a family tradition.
The church was in the news in 2013 after vandals broke in and smashed ceiling lanterns, destroyed or stole all 13 kerosene lanterns, damaged the vestibule and the old pump organ. The public responded with donations and it was restored.
When formed in 1857 as Salem Evangelical Church, it was the state’s first congregation of the Evangelical Association of North America. The current building at 1477 Upper 55th St. E., was built in 1874. It is used now primarily for weddings, tours, and other special events.