Some of the early Danish-American churches were very simple structures, and they functioned for years with little more than the most elementary utensils: a plain table, some candles, and an oleographed copy of “The Last Supper” behind the altar. The physical undertaking of the church service had, after all, first priority. An altar piece was, however, thought of as a finishing touch that perfected the edifice, and its procurement was by no means taken lightly.
Original church minutes, numerous anniversary booklets, and many per
sonal recollections are eloquent reminders of the lengthy deliberations about embellishment of the churches carried out by the congregations. The discussions, at least as reported in written form, never touched upon mat
ters of quality, doctrine or ethnicity. The main questions were always of a practical nature. Firstly, how to secure funds for the acquisition of altar pieces, pulpits and baptismal fonts; secondly, where and how to order these objects.
In some instances, especially in the early years, members of the congre
gation simply undertook to produce the necessary furnishings themselves.
Such was the case when, in 1873, church board member A.I. Vetter built an altar rail and pulpit for Trinity Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois, and Christian Christiansen used his scant spare time to
make a baptismal font.2 A proper altar piece for Trinity Church was not installed until 1882, when a painting was bought for $100 from a Danish congregation in Indianapolis which had been dissolved. This painting by P.
Raadsig, showing Christ in Gethsemane, was completed in Copenhagen in 1872 and was then sent to the Chicago Danish-Americans who had com
missioned it.3 In other instances, the board of trustees would decide to purchase art objects with money left over from the building fund after church construction had been paid for. As reported in the minutes of the annual meeting, Gethsemane Danish Lutheran Church in Oyens, Iowa, decided on March 19, 1904 (six years after the erection of the church) to do something about the altar piece:
It was decided to appoint a committee to find out how big an altar piece will be needed in the church and on what conditions a fitting altar piece can be had, and to report to the board and trustees before April 20...4
In Menominee, Michigan, the board of The Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church had to repeatedly remind the appointed decoration committee to finish its task. On February 18, 1894, the committee finally brought in three bids on a total decoration scheme for the church. One bid stood at
$400, another at $119.30, and a third at $115. Without quite taking the decision in its own hands, the board decided to second a motion from Rasmus P. Sørensen and Lars Nielsen,
...to give the decoration committee the full right to work for the decoration of the church as well as they could but not go beyond $115, and if possible to get another row of benches into the bargain. The chairman, H.P Schmidt, offered to lend the money for the equip
ment temporarily?
Subsequently, on April 22, 1894, the minutes state that:
...today a man [Mr. Schmidt] was present who can paint an altar piece, and after a short negotiation it was decided to have one such painted, which, however, could not cost more than $25, and it is left to the decoration committee to choose a picture and to negotiate with Mr. Schmidt on this matter.6
The most common procedure, however, was to leave the matter of the altar piece and other decoration to the Ladies’ Aid. Such women’s committees were organized almost simultaneously with the congregations, often under the supervision of the pastor’s wife. Since women could not be elected to the governing bodies of the congregations, their energies and creativity were channeled into other projects. Often the committees concentrated on
collecting funds for some worthy cause, be it embellishment of the church, or social work. The money was collected in manifold ways: there were 10 cent coffee parties, bazaars and auctions of homemade handicrafts, and, later, large dinner parties. Although the committees worked diligently, the funds they were able to collect were rarely enough to cover costs, and they would then have to rely upon the good will of artists and others in reaching an agreement on payment procedure. On February 7,1907, the Ladies’ Aid of Zion Lutheran Church in Kenmare, North Dakota, reported as follows:
...it was moved and carried that the Ladies’ Aid would give an altar piece to the church, it was then decided that pastor Nelson should direct inquiries to some of these artists../
On April 18, 1907, it turned out that the women did not have enough funds, and the minutes note that it will be necessary to borrow money for the down payment on the altar piece. On May 2, 1907, Mrs. Nelson (the pastor’s wife, and chairman of the committee) could report that it would be possible to borrow the money from Jens Rosendahl. The finished painting was received at the church on August 1,1907, and payment to the artist was remitted on August 15, 1907.8
The Ladies’ Aid of Our Savior’s Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jewell Junction, Iowa, also had to pay their outstanding debt in install
ments:
...On [October] 21 [1900] the treasurer paid $10 toward the altar piece; its price is $75, the rest may be left for several years and paid whenever the Ladies’ Aid is able to...9
At Emmaus Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin, pastor Martinus Lyngby had a very strong say in the procedure for obtain
ing an altar piece:
He set the young women to work to provide for a new altar painting for the church. The completion of this project was delayed until 1887 on account of the death of the artist in Denmark before the picture was finished. Rev. Lyngby and several of the church officers then went to Chicago to arrange for another painting. They engaged Mr.
Wm. Jensen to paint a copy of Dorph’s “The Journey to Emmaus”...The cost of the painting was 130 dollars...10
It is not known who was originally commissioned to do this, painting. But William Jensen of Chicago was a very accomplished copyist who could make a version that would not do discredit to the original artist. This would account for the relatively high cost of his work.11
In Hutchinson, Minnesota, the chairman of Nazareth Danish
Evangeli-Ashland Folk High School and Church painted and later photographed by Lorentz Henningsen. The original glass plate is the property of the Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago.
cal Lutheran congregation reported on April 9, 1911, that the Ladies’ Aid had given $75, and Martin Hansen $15 toward an altar piece, after which time:
...pastor [Lorentz] Henningsen briefly described the altar pieces that he [Henningsen] had painted so far, and after some discussion it was moved and carried to leave the job to pastor Henningsen; it was left to the board to have the frame made.12
Henningsen was also involved in a plan to acquire an altar piece for the church in Lake Benton, Minnesota. This time, however, things did not go smoothly, as seen in an undated letter to Henningsen from Niels Brus:
“Dear Friend,
The first time I came into Ashland church I was strongly moved at the sight of the altar painting [also by Henningsen], I got the impression of some
thing holy and solemn, and that is the reason that I very much want us to have a painting in our church, but now the plan is temporarily stranded.
The board of the Ladies’ Aid, which had asked me to write to you, was strongly for it. They called a meeting; but since they had approximately $30 - and some members were afraid that the frame for the painting would be
costly, they decided to wait with the picture until it could become a cause for the whole congregation, and they then used the money for the children’s home and such...I then turned to the board of the congregation, but some members preferred to wait until the debt on the new parsonage had been paid. - We liked your idea and hope that we will some day have a painting for our church.”13
After 1900, probably as a result of a general improvement in the economic situation of Danish immigrants, it became increasingly common for indi
viduals to donate altar pieces or baptismal fonts, sometimes in commemora
tion of a deceased family member (as in Luverne, North Dakota and Davenport, Iowa). At other times, a private benefactor would join ranks with the Young People’s Society to secure both an altar painting and a frame (Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa).