BAY CITY – Tabor Lutheran Church may be small but its congregation, led by 99-year-old Pastor Gene Hasselquist, is mighty. The public is invited to a special Christmas service at 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 15, which will also celebrate Hasselquist’s 100^th birthday.

The worship service will feature special music (piano, guitar and vocals) by Katy Griep and Mac Cherry from Alma. The congregation will also sing Christmas carols, accompanied by organist Cindy Florness on the 1880s pump organ. The service will be followed by a smorgasbord with Scandinavian and German Christmas baked goods with coffee and Swedish glögg. All are welcome.

The church, which sits atop a hill between Maiden Rock and Bay City along the Great River Road, was founded in 1881 by Swedish emigrants. Tabor, which shared a minister with Svea Lutheran Church of Hager City, closed in May 2011 when the congregation could no longer pay for their portion of the minister’s salary. The congregation met and decided to hold monthly services with temporary ministers. A few key families were determined to keep the church going. Church Council President Mary Edquist called the church synod and got a list of pastors’ names who could help. That is until Hasselquist came out of retirement at age 88 to fill in at a July 2012 service. He has been leading monthly services (the third Sunday of the month) at Tabor ever since.

Florness said attendance averaged about 10-12 members per service but has since grown to 50-60 the last few years. This is a testament to the dedication of its members, in an era when many small country churches have shuttered their doors.

Last fall, Tabor obtained an 1880s pump organ no longer in use at Sabylund Church in Stockholm, Florness said; it had been restored by Dave Zahn.

“It was a good fit with Tabor’s 1881 founding,” Florness said.

Tabor then began having special monthly music performed by local and Twin Cities’ musicians, which has helped increase attendance at the country church. Some examples include the Norwegian Hardanger fiddlers, the Hot Flashes, Patchouli and more. The bulletins are filled with historical church/member facts and gratitude toward those who contribute to Tabor’s services.

“Pastor Gene has vision challenges, so the congregation reads together all the service passages and prayers, “Florness said. “He delivers his monthly sermons from memory, from the heart.

“Pastor Gene is a real spiritual leader for our little church, bringing the community together.  In a time when other small rural churches have closed, Tabor continues to be filled on Sunday monthly services. There is a regular fellowship gathering of the congregation in the back of the church, following the service, where they gather together with coffee and baked goods and visiting for a good hour after the service.”

The church has strong volunteer involvement, ranging from cleaning up the church grounds to raising funds for a new ramp. The church has also raised enough money to paint the church next spring. Members installed solar lights to shine on Tabor as a beacon of light and faith at the crossroads of Highway 35 and County Road D. This summer, members also planted a perennial flower garden and hope to plant a wildflower/prairie restoration on the 2-acre field between the church and Highway 35.

“It takes a community to do the work and fund it. So any discussion of our present and future projects, under the spiritual guidance of Pastor Gene, should reflect the spirit of the collective community of the Tabor church community, the church council and congregation,” Florness said.

Pastor Gene

Hasselquist, who retired from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Red Wing where he served from 1960-1987, continues to lead worship at Tabor. He has also filled in for other area churches when pastors are on vacation or as an interim minister when congregations are searching for a permanent pastor. During the winter months, his son-in-law filled in while he spent time in Texas.

Each year, Hasselquist collected goods from area churches to donate to the local school in Donna, Texas, a school about one mile from the Mexican border stricken by poverty. He started out bringing goods in his car, then a used U-Haul trailer, then a van and finally a semi.

According to Hasselquist, he has delivered 25,000 to 30,000 pounds of goods, 300 to 400 quilts, 100 blankets, 400-450 pairs of socks, and money to Runn Elementary School.

“Pastor Gene worked in the school and was given a key to the city for all his donations and help to the community,” Florness said. “Pastor Gene has continued his life of Lutheran ministry, now in his 73rd year of service.”

He and his wife Gladdy helped organize a new Lutheran church (ELCA synod) in Weslaco, Texas, called Love of Christ Church, which has about 200 members. His ministry lives on, in Texas and in a little country church in western Wisconsin.