Sand Hill Chapel

The Sand Hill Norsk Lutherske Menighet (Norwegian Lutheran Congregation) church was originally built in 1890, and rebuilt in 1910-11. The church closed in 1968. In the early 2000's, the foundation of Sand Hill Lutheran church (located on Highway 1 between Winger and Fosston) became too unstable, so the cemetery association which owned it decided to tear it down. It was a difficult and heart-wrenching decision for many. Joyce and Jerry built a chapel on the farm to house the contents of the church in honor of the immigrants who settled the community.

In 2011, Ken Kasprzak poured a slab foundation, and Joyce and Jerry built the walls, hiring Lonny Gieseke of Winger to put on the roof. The altar furniture (including an altar painting by A. Klagstad around 1900), pump organ, and vintage hymnbooks were given by the Sand Hill association. 

The communion set came from the original Dutch Reformed church in Bejou where Laurie Bursheim's grandfather attended. Joyce and Jerry made some of the paraments from what was salvageable from the Sand Hill altar cloth and trim, and others were donated by Calvary Lutheran of Winger.

Joyce and Jerry removed some of the old siding from Sand Hill, flipped it inside out, sanded and repainted it, and used it for siding the chapel. They also reused the trim boards and doors from Sand Hill, as well as doors from the old schoolhouse in Knox, ND.

Joyce made the stained glass windows using Gothic style frames reclaimed from a remodeling project at Dovre Lutheran in Winger. They bought five pews from Sand Hill, and opened the chapel for small group gatherings and memorial worship services in 2013.

A diesel mechanic from Starbuck, MN, fashioned a bell from the planetary ring gear of an old Case tractor transmission. Joyce and Jerry also purchased a schoolhouse bell from Thief River Fall for the future steeple.