IF YOU’RE NORWEGIAN (which I’m not), appreciate historic country churches (which I do), rejoice in the preservation of old buildings (which I do) and value worshiping God in a rural setting (which I do), then venture into Monkey Valley this weekend.
If you can’t resist a tasty meal in a church basement (which I can’t), love strawberries (which I do), enjoy good fellowship with the locals (which I do) and delight in a beautiful and historic country church (which I do), drive south of Monkey Valley to Moland on Sunday.
A rear view of the Old Stone Church, a simple structure with three shuttered windows running along each side of the building.
Within miles of each other, two area churches are celebrating this weekend, first with a Norwegian church service in an 1875 limestone church, appropriately called the Old Stone Church and located 2.3 miles south and west of Kenyon along Monkey Valley Road.
A stone’s throw from the Old Stone Church, a view of Monkey Valley.
The road name alone was enough to draw me to this ethnic worship service three years ago. As one story goes, monkeys escaped here from a traveling circus and fled into the woods. True or not, I’m buying it.
During a worship service filled with music, choir and congregational members sing in Norwegian, “Ja, vi elsker.”
To read about the Norwegian worship service I attended in 2010 and to learn more about the Old Stone Church, click here and here and here.
Sunday’s once-a-year worship service begins at 9:30 a.m.
Moland Lutheran Church, a Norwegian Lutheran church south of Kenyon in Steele County near Owatonna.
About the time the service wraps up at the Old Stone Church and you’ve finished mingling, you’ll start thinking about lunch, conveniently served at Moland Lutheran Church a few miles to the south and west at 7618 84th Avenue N.E., rural Kenyon, close to where the counties of Rice, Steele, Dodge and Goodhue meet.
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Moland folks will serve pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, strawberries with angel food cake and/or ice cream, chocolate cake (if the menu is the same as in 2010) and beverages. As church meals go, I’d highly recommend this one for the food, the hospitality and setting.
Be sure to check out the sanctuary and history of this 1884 country church before leaving. Moland reminds me of the Lutheran church I attended growing up in southwestern Minnesota.
The Moland folks serve a generous amount of strawberries with two scoops of ice cream.
To read my 2010 post on the Moland strawberry festival, click here.
My Moland post, “In Praise of Preserving Country Churches,” was featured in WordPress’ “Freshly Pressed” on July 9, 2010. That’s a huge honor for any blogger, to have his/her work selected as among the best of the day from WordPress blogs world-wide. You can read about that honor by clicking here. Last year I was also featured in WordPress and you can read that post about the Faribault Heritage Days Soapbox Derby by clicking here.
The real honors, though, go to all those men and women out there who preserve country churches and serve all those delicious meals in church basements.
FYI: To read about more church dinners/meals, check out the Faribault-based blog, Church Cuisine of Minnesota, by clicking here.
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Aren’t ethnic country churches the best?? And these are real treasures..great post! There was such a church a mile down the road from us and the congregation lived close by. As the numbers dwindled and finally was down to the point of closing the doors, the church was dismantled, board by board (numbered, etc) and shipped to Norway and rebuilt in a restoration village project. I guess it was one of the very first built here years ago. I was fascinated by how they placed each piece in the waiting shipping containers. The cemetery and a grove of trees are all that remains to mark it’s spot.
That is quite the story about the church near you. Better that it be shipped across the ocean than simply torn down.
You are so right. Vandalism had taken a small toll already so it was the right thing to do.
That Stone Church is AMAZING – loving a good monkey story too:) I grew up in a Norwegian/German family and married into an Irish/Italian family – interesting dynamics at times. I still remember my paternal grandmother speaking her own language – she mixed Norwegian with German and vice versa – at least I could understand German to get what she was saying at times. Happy Friday – Happy Weekend!
I am 100 percent German, married a 100 percent German. What a great mix of ethnicity in your family.
A mixed bag indeed – love it too – ha! I have always wanted to learn more about where I descended from; any famous people, interesting characters, skeletons in the closet, etc.
There’s your retirement project some day…
Yes, some day because right now I have a huge photo archival project of family to do first!
Oh, let’s not mention family photos that need to be placed in albums.
Not Albums – going digital with scanning and everything else that goes along with that. I am thinking about putting together some type of family scrapbook (done online) once it is completed.
That sounds like a major undertaking, but one your family will appreciate and treasure.
I get to check-off all your “boxes” (from your 1st paragraph) One of these years I would love to visit these churches, ESPECIALLY that “Old stone church” oh how I love old buildings and anything to do with the past. This weekend is a busy one so I’ll look forward to (maybe) next year. Thanks for sharing about these events! Sometimes I wish life wasn’t so busy, but I guess it’s what we make it . I feel like I need to slow down and “smell the roses”.
I get “busy.” The summer pace of activities is beginning to pick up here, too, with more places to be and things to do than time and body allow.
Love this! I’ve photographed Moland Church before, but I never knew about the stone church! I’m going to have to take a little trip one of these evenings… And Monkey Valley–such a fun story! Thanks for sharing.
We went to Moland yesterday, meaning pix coming soon. I had to come up w/ new shots from my last visit there. I think I managed. If you go to the Old Stone Church, I doubt you will be able to get inside. And the interior is worth seeing.
In 1869 my great grandfather Alf T Weum came to Richland County where on the Steele County-Rice County Line about a mile north and a mile west of this church he homesteaded 160 acres. His sons and his grandchildren, and ultmately his great-grandchildren lived on that farm. Alf was one of the founding members of the Moland Lutheran Church. In 1980 my grandmother Amy Weum acquired a plate commemorating 100 years of the church. I plan to send that to the chuch in the near future for their archives. My cousins and friends spent many summers there in Bible School sessions and strawberry festivals when we were very young in the 1960s. The farm was designated as Minnesota Century Farm at one point
Richard, thank you for stopping by and taking time to share your personal connection to Moland.
I would love to be able to visit the Old Stone Church some day. Through family research I have found both my great, great grandparents and great grandparents are buried there. I believe my great, great grandfather Jens (Pederson) Jenson served on the building committee in 1871. I understand they open the church for services one Sunday a year and if anyone knows when that is, I would love to know, if it was a possibility to go, I sure would try.
Elaine, I have been to the once-a-year service at the Old Stone Church, rural Kenyon. It’s held in June. I am unsure of the date this year. But if you visit the Hauge Lutheran Church (Kenyon) website, you will find contact info there to get that date: http://www.haugechurch.info/
Also, here’s another post I wrote on the Old Stone Church: https://mnprairieroots.com/2010/06/27/inside-the-old-stone-church-rural-kenyon-minnesota/
I’m sure someone would be willing to let you into the church whenever. Just contact Hauge.
thank you!
You are most welcome.