The First Church of the Nazarene of Brainerd came into being as an organized church on Sept. 11, 1938, in a tent pitched at the corner of North Sixth and Kingwood Streets.
The Rev. G. Franklin Allee of Moses Lake, Wash., was the evangelist for the two-week meeting, with Mr. and Mrs. Morton from Montana paying his salary and keeping him in their home. The meeting closed with the organization of the church by District Superintendent J. N. Tinsley with the first pastor, John N. Warner, present.
There were eight charter members including the pastor and his wife, Mr and Mrs. Lester Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Davis and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smart. These people filled all the church and Sunday School posts.
The first facilities for worship were in the Iron Exchange building where space was rented for $20 per month. In October, 1938, the Bowen building at 617 E. Washington Street (present location of the Mathisen Tire company) was rented for $30 per month. This building had been used as a garage and was decorated with an abundance of grease and dirt. The inventive, but unsophisticed solution was to cover the walls with clean bed sheets. Money was borrowed to buy a linoleum for $39, and 50 folding chairs were secured from Montgomery Ward on the installment plan.
Rev. Warner served as pastor from the time of organization until Feb. 19, 1939. His monetary reward for the 17 months of service totaled $12.94. He was followed by two student pastors from a Minneapolis Christian and Missionary Alliance school, William McBirnie (February to April 1939), and Francis Widger (May to June 1939). The Sunday school average attendance in May, 1939 was 69.
About June 1,1939, the Rev. and Mrs. Sherman A. Nyhus arrived as the second resident pastors. On June 7, 1939, lots were purchased at the corner of I Street and Fourth Avenue, N. E. for $350. A tent was erected at that location, and on June 11, 1939, services were begun in the tent with 20 present. Rev., Nyhus preached for six weeks in the tent in cold and rainy weather.
On Aug. 14, 1939, the tent was removed and ground broken for the present church building. Rev. Nyhus led in the project which was constructed with volunteer labor. The work on the basement was completed on Sept. 16, and the framework was started. Hardwood flooring was secured from an old dance hall and the women and children joined in the scraping and sanding necessary to remove the layers of dirt and varnish. By Oct. 8, the building was sufficiently completed to enable the first service to be held with 36 in Sunday school. The building was divided into two parts with a parsonage 20x30 in the rear completed, and an auditorium 30x 40 to be completed that fall. A public solicitation for funds was held and enough money received to retire the indebtedness.
As the congregation continued to grow, plans were made to add a south addition which would provide a sanctuary seating nearly 200 and Sunday school classrooms downstairs.
The first service held in this new addition was on April 25, 1948.
During Rev. Nyhus' 10 years of ministry, the church membership climbed to 63, and the Sunday school reached an average attendance of 110. He concluded his ministry here in December, 1949.
Other pastors have followed the ground work ministry of Rev. Nyhus. They have been: Rev. Walter Morris (Deceased), 1949 to 1952; Rev. F. J. Duke, 1952 to 1955; Rev. Leo D. Steininger, 1955 to 1958; Rev. Richard J. Kissee, 1958 to 1964; Rev. Louis Schaap 1964 to 1969; and Rev. Kenneth R. Wood, October 19, 1969, to the present.
In 1965 the church purchased a parsonage at the corner of First Avenue, N. E. and G Street with nearly two acres of land where a monument works once stood. Rev. Schaap and the members made the full basement into a Fellowship hall and evangelist and guest quarters.
On Sept. 15, 1969, a small house and lot at 619 First Avenue, N. E. was purchased. As a result of this purchase, the church now owns a rectangular plot of land with 260 feet of frontage on First Avenue, N. E. which is 350 feet deep. Future plans as now proposed call for the construction of a new church plant adjacent to the parsonage as soon as finances permit.
Three men have gone from the church to become preachers and pastors: Rev. F. J. Duke, Rev. Kelly Davis, and Rev. Bruce Petersen.
On March 1, 1971, the church membership totaled 100 and the Sunday school average attendance, 108. An estimated evaluation of its present property is $67,000.
Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch (1871-1971).
