End of an era

Editor's note: This article was originally published in 2019. 

There is perhaps nothing more quintessentially Midwestern, and more iconically Lutheran, than a group of community members gathering for one day each year to celebrate their shared story by preparing and eating an ancient, famously unappetizing, jelly-like dish that once swam in the ocean, then in lye, and finally in a little pool of melted butter: lutefisk.

But after 69 years holding an annual Lutefisk and Meatball Dinner, one local church is calling it quits, citing declining attendance in recent years and the difficulties of competing with many other events and obligations.

Barneveld Lutheran Church’s pastor Jim Hearne used the decision as an opportunity to look both backward and forward.

“We have a group of people who organized it, and we got together and started asking if maybe God was calling us to do something else,” Hearne said. “And that’s okay.”

The meal, which at its height attracted 1,400 people but in recent years served around 600, was such a central component of the church’s identity that when the building was constructed in 1985 following a devastating tornado, it was designed specifically to accommodate the popular annual meal.

Hearne said even as its popularity waned, the event remained joyous for many.

“I called them the lutefisk junkies,” he joked. “They came from all over. Like Grateful Dead junkies, they would go and kind of hit all the churches.”

But the meal, which also included plenty of lefse, a Norwegian flatbread made with flour and potatoes, took an enormous amount of behind-the-scenes work to pull off each November.

“And a lot of these rituals, these traditions, they just haven’t been handed on to the next generation,” Hearne said. “Younger folks are just not as passionate for them.”

Simply put, the congregation is changing. “We have Norwegian roots, but the truth is today our congregation is a hodge-podge of different heritages,” the pastor commented.

In a statement issued this week, representatives for the church wrote:

“There is an old Norwegian Proverb which says, ‘that which is always loved is beautiful.’  For 69 years Barneveld Lutheran Church (BLC) has loved hosting and serving our annual Lutefisk dinner. Many have come from near and far which has made this such a beautiful celebration and moment in the life of our church and community.”

“After much prayer and discussion and looking at the declining numbers of guests coming for the dinner in recent years, the people of BLC have decided to end our Lutefisk dinner,” they continued. “It has become increasingly difficult to staff the dinner for the full day with many more activities calling upon members’ time.”

The statement concluded: “We have made many wonderful memories throughout these seven decades and we are so grateful for all those living and now deceased who have contributed to this special feast. We thank those who have come to enjoy the dinner each November. We thank all the people of our faith family who have given of your time and talent over the years to carry on this tradition. You made it special. ‘That which is always loved is beautiful.’  The BLC Lutefisk dinner will always and forever be loved and thus be beautiful.  Thank you for your support of our dinner.”

And what will replace the tradition once it’s gone? For that answer, Hearne said church leaders plan to “seek the wisdom of the greater congregation.” If whatever they come up with lasts nearly seven decades, it will likely be safe to call it a success.