About Us

Mabel First Lutheran Church is located in the town of Mabel, Minnesota. We are a community of believers who gather to worship God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Around 70 people gather for worship every Sunday. Our congregation is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the ELCA Southeastern Minnesota Synod, which is comprised of 168 congregations, two campus ministries, and five Sudanese worshipping communities. We are involved with the Area Council of Churches, a partnership of eleven churches who come together to provide community ministries and worship opportunities.

We are a congregation that strives to serve our Lord Jesus Christ by being actively engaged in local and global ministries. We minister to people in our community by being the site for the Mabel Area Food Shelf. Financial support is also regularly given to the nearby Midwest Mission Bible Training Center in Cresco, Iowa, which assists people in their recovery with alcohol and drug addiction. We extend our mininistry even further beyond the local congregation through the wider church by providing mission support to our synod and churchwide organization.

Mabel First Lutheran Church has a history that traces back to 1891. Like many churches in the area, it was originally founded by Norwegian pioneers who settled in and around Mabel in the late 1800s. On that era, a historian commented, “The sturdy Norwegian pioneers were brought up and reared under the State church of Norway, and they did not feel at home in the new world until a Lutheran church congregation had been organized.” Whatever your background, we invite you to join our Christian community and together learn and grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Source of Quotation: G.B. Odegaard’s A History of the Southern Minnesota District, Evangelical Lutheran Church (1854-1959)