Our History

Our Roots in Sweden

 Immanuel Lutheran is the product of long line of Christians handing down the faith across centuries. Christianity came to Sweden in the late Middle Ages through the great sacrifice of mission efforts. During the Reformation period the Church of Sweden worked to maintain the great tradition of Christianity in light of the Scriptures in areas that had been obscured. 

 Swedish Lutheranism valued liturgy and beauty as places where the people experienced God’s presence. This is reflected in Altona’s history in that they practiced the same worship liturgy used in Sweden since the 1600s until the early 20th century. 

Our Founding

 As Swedish immigrants moved to Western Illinois, Immanuel was founded in 1859 as a Lutheran congregation of what became the Swedish Augustana Synod. Immanuel’s first pastor was a Swedish Lutheran Priest of the Church of Sweden sent to help found Lutheran churches in the New World. The church has continued this legacy of passing down faith in Jesus.

A more detailed history of our church can be read here.