A New History 1872 - 2010

St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Detroit Lakes, MN

The history of St. Luke's you are about to read was graciously written for us by Richard D. Hecock.

St. Luke's Church is much loved, as indicated by the numerous affectionate histories. An unnamed source, probably Rev. Anton Gesner, chronicled the first years (1872-1894) in the church's register, apparently in 1894. Agnes West incorporated those notes together with excerpts of Bishops Committees' reports in an update around 1940. John Tollefson relied heavily on those sources and added more material for his high school thesis "The History of St. Luke's in Detroit Lakes" in 1962. Life-long member, Nancy Rutledge, based to a considerable degree on her own records and memories, contributed several reminiscences in the 1970's, around the time of the church's centennial celebration. In 1991, Donald White returned to the church records and interviews with old-timers, to produce the most comprehensive history, "St. Luke's Parish, The First 119 Years".

Since that time, there is an almost complete set of minutes, annual reports, parochial reports and other data with which to rely on for recent developments of the church. Much of the credit for assembly of these documents is owed to Betty Greenough, who operated as the church's secretary/archivist during much of that time.

I am humbled by the work of these predecessors, but note that almost 20 years has passed since White's fine effort. During that interval, a single priest served for 11 years, a longer tenure than any previous St. Luke's clergy person. On the other hand, it was during this period the church was without a priest for the longest period in its history. Late in the period St. Luke's became a Total Ministry church, and it currently counts two ordained priests and a deacon among its congregation.

My connection with St. Luke's is not as extensive as many other members, past or present. Nevertheless, I am one of the living few that did attend a service at the Lake Street church in the 1950's, and Georgia and I were married in 1967 at the "new" church soon after its consecration. Finally, since 1993, Georgia and I have made Detroit Lakes our home, so we have witnessed most of the events since White did his work.

I'm not a historian, but am interested in history, particularly the contexts that have produced current institutions. I have tried to generalize and draw attention to the broad trends of St. Luke's history, and have tried to relate these trends to other events and conditions. For those who want more detail, and less generalization about the early history of St. Luke's, see White's or West's works.

I hope that this effort serves as a contribution not only towards understanding St. Luke's past, present and future,

but its role in the history of Detroit Lakes.

In addition to those references in the bibliography, special thanks goes to the Becker County Historical Society, and to Arthur Finnel, historiographer of the Diocese of Minnesota who provided several ideas, pictures, and other resources. As always, Georgia Hecock provided invaluable service with both ideas and editing. Carol and Jim Granger, and John Emery, also helped me avoid some errors. Those remaining, any omissions, and other defects, are mine alone.