First Evangelical Lutheran Church (Idaho Falls, Idaho)

A. Gunberg arrived from Provo, Utah and held the first meeting of interested people on March 21 1898 in Idaho Falls. Plans were made to organize a Lutheran Church on April 25, 1898 with the name “The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Gustaf Adolphus Church.” By Christmas of 1900 they were in their own building on the present property. Thirty-five adults and twenty children gathered for the first annual meeting on January 2, 1899. On February 6, 1901 the congregation was admitted into the Augustana Synod. The first organ, purchased for $35,000 in 1899 is still in the church and used on special occasions.

The changeover from Swedish to English began around 1910, and in January of 1939 the congregation voted to construct a new church and to change the name to “First Evangelical Lutheran Church.” The new building was dedicated in September of 1941. In April of 1944 the congregation celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the burning of the mortgage. In the late 1940s an influx of people into the area caused the baptized membership to exceed 400. Growth in the area was a result of the Atomic Energy Commission’s new site in the desert west of the city.

In 1956 ground was broken for a new education wing, and dedication followed one year later. In January of 1960 the chancel area was renovated, and on the 75th Anniversary of the congregation (1973) the last mortgage was burned. Growth of the congregation continued until it became the largest of the twelve LCA congregations in Idaho.