From a
Single Event in 1865...
140 Year History of LSS Begins
"In the fall of 1865, when I
made a visit to St. Paul, I was notified that a family from Dalarna
(Sweden), Mikola Erik Erikson and his wife, had recently come from Sweden,
and both had died and left four children in a destitute and defenseless
position. Asked, if I had any advice regarding these children, it was as
if a voice said to me: take them home with you. And I took them home to
Red Wing, where I lived then. The following Sunday, I took the children
with me to church service … and it was obvious that they needed care,
clothes, and food. The congregation was immediately ready to take up a
collection for this purpose. The next step was to find a caretaker for the
children and a place to live. The latter was found in the space under the
church in Vasa, and the former found in Mrs. Brita Nilson, a devout and
religious woman who came from Stockholm, Wisconsin … " 1 Pastor Eric
Norelius
Such is the beginning of what
would become Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS), told by Pastor
Eric Norelius himself. The story goes on to describe how the home expanded
to serve many, many orphaned children from southern Minnesota. This
ministry grew over the years, and was rebuilt after tornados and fires
demolished the buildings. In 1926, the Vasa Children's Home moved to a new
location, on Highway 61, north of Red Wing, where it continues to serve
children and young people with developmental disabilities.
LSS learned last year that the
Vasa Lutheran Church would be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2005,
as would First Lutheran Church in Red Wing. Each congregation had been
founded by Eric Norelius, and the ties to the Vasa Children's home were
strong then as they are today. It seemed fitting that LSS should join in
the celebration during this special year. So as we celebrate LSS' 140th
year of serving others, we offer our salute to the Vasa congregation and
to the congregation of First Lutheran in Red Wing whose ancestors had the
vision and compassion to serve others in such a remarkable way.
From the four orphaned
siblings whom the Vasa congregation cared for in the late 1860s, LSS has
grown to become the state's largest statewide social service organization.
Owned by the six Minnesota synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, LSS's mission is to express the love of Christ to all people
through acts of service. The actual words of the LSS mission statement
came much, much later. But the message would easily have been understood
by the early Lutherans at Vasa and in Red Wing during the Civil War years.
Pastor Norelius established
Lutheran congregations in Minnesota and Illinois, He was the leader in
forming Gustavus Adolphus College. And, in creating the Vasa Children's
Home, he was the founder of what became known as Lutheran Social Service
of Minnesota.
