Pioneer Village Museum
Ward County Historical Society

The Immanuel Lutheran Church was originally located eleven miles northeast of Minot, in McKinley Township. The church served its community well until it held its last service on August 28, 1966. Years later, the church building was moved to the Pioneer Village Historical Museum, where it remains, helping to serve as an ecclesiastical monument on the museum grounds.

However, the 2011 Souris River flood destroyed everything inside the church. The church was gutted of all its original furnishings, including the pews and altar. Thankfully, the church building and the Ward County Historical Museum found a savior, so to speak, in the Stenkjaer Lutheran Church. The Stenkjaer church, which was located in Simcoe (north of Velva, McHenry County), held its last service on December 18, 2011, after 107 years of ministry to North Dakota Lutherans. While work was in progress to restore the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Pioneer Village site director Sue Bergan was contacted by Clifford Thom, a board member of the Stenkjaer church, who inquired as to whether the Stenkjaer church could donate any furnishings to help facilitate the restoration work being done on the Immanuel church.

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The Ward County Historical Society accepted the Stenkjaer church on their gracious offer. Everything inside the Immanuel church comes from the Stenkjaer church, with the sole exception being the giant painting depicting the Resurrection of Christ, which came from the Immanuel Lutheran Church.