Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Lebanon Church

Lebanon Lutheran Church was organized in 1896 in the Hegewisch section of Chicago as a member of the Augustana Synod. It was located at 13100 S. Manistee Ave. On September 15, 1970, Holy Trinity Lutheran (1913, General Synod) merged into Lebanon.

Planned as a workingmen's industrial town, patterned after Pullman, Ill., Hegewisch failed to materialize beyond a few frame houses and a small retail area. Separated from Chicago by miles of swamp, the Pennsylvania Railroad and later the Brandon Avenue street car provided the main transportation in and out of the area.

Fifty or more Swedish families had settled in Hegewisch by the end of 1895. A need to serve these people in their native tongue eventuated in the organization of Lebanon Lutheran Church, at two organizational meetings, held on January 17, 1896 and June 3, 1896.

Two lots were purchased on the corner of 132nd St. and Ontario Ave. (later Brandon Ave.). Construction began in 1896.

Served by student pastors from Augustana College until 1921, the congregation called its first pastor, the Rev. O.O. Eckardt, in 1922. He served the combined parishes of First Lutheran in Harvey, Capernaum in Chicago and Lebanon until February 11, 1922.

Rev. Julius Nordling began work on August 1, 1922, serving Lebanon and Capernaum.

Plans to remodel the building at 132nd and Brandon were droped in 1961. A new building was planned and construction begun on land bounded by 131st St., Manistee Ave., and Brainard Ave. It was dedicated on April 12, 1970.

Talks between Lebanon and Holy Trinity (at 83rd and Crandon) began on March 5, 1970 and resulted in the consolidation of the two congregations into Lebanon on September 15, 1970.

Original records
Original record books should be located at the congregation at 13100 S. Manistee Ave., 60633-1797. Membership records from 1903-1960 and church minutes from 1896-1942 have been microfilmed on Augustana A12 and are available through the ELCA Archives and the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center in Rock Island, Ill. The ELCA Archives also has congregational histories and miscellaneous issues of church publications, including The Evangel.

Sources
Lebanon Lutheran Church, 75th Anniversary, 1896-1971.