Kenneth
Location Address:
340 N Church St
Kenneth, MN 56147
Phone: (507) 483-2661
Mailing Address:
PO Box 73
Kenneth, MN 56147-0073
Kenneth Lutheran Church History
“Early in the 1890’s a small group of Norwegian settlers moved into Southwestern Minnesota and made what is now the village of Kenneth. Like all Christian pioneers, their aim was to establish a home for themselves and their families.” (From Faith of our Fathers 100th anniversary booklet of Kenneth Lutheran Church)
That’s why, in 1894, they adopted a constitution establishing a congregation in Battle Plain township in Rock County. It is not home without a congregation, though for some years they were a congregation without a building. This congregation learned early it doesn’t take a building to make a church. But a building can be useful. So, in 1906-07 they built a building in Kenneth, and “Battle Plain Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church” became “Kenneth Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church.”
In its early formative years, the congregation was helped by a neighbor down the road called Blue Mound Lutheran Church. But closer relations between the two congregations were in the making long before anyone ever realized it. In 1952, Blue Mound and Kenneth joined together to form a two-congregation parish and they served Christ and their communities together for about a quarter century. Then, in the mid-70’s, Blue Mound closed. A number of members joined Kenneth and, together, they entered conversation with Zion Lutheran Church of Adrian and by 1976 had yoked with Zion to share a pastor and a ministry and a new life.
Kenneth continued to serve along with its sister congregation at Adrian in this way until late 2005 when Kenneth, Zion and Hadley Lutheran Churches joined to establish a three-point parish.
We at Kenneth Lutheran Church seek to continue that legacy initiated by our forefathers and foremothers: to establish a home, that is, to ever grow in the midst of changes so that we can “bring the Gospel home” to new hearts in new times and under new circumstances.
