Wonderful anniversary

 
The Rev. Peter Faugstad stood in the front of his little church, and the smile refused to leave his face.
“Oh my, it was wonderful — absolutely wonderful,” he said after Jerico Lutheran Church held its 150th anniversary service Sunday morning. “The view we pastors had ... it’s something I will never forget.”
It was that kind of day at Jerico Lutheran, the little church on the east side of the small village that carries the same name.
“To see so many people, it tells you how much this church means to them,” he said. “And to have so many former pastors back ...”
For a moment, he was at a loss for words, and  when he spoke again, the smile, if it was possible, grew larger.
“God gave us a wonderful gift today.”
For more than a year, the members of Jerico Lutheran planned this day, and on Sunday, they came together — young and old, current members and former members, men and women — to celebrate the blessing this little church has been for so many people since those first Norwegian settlers began worshipping together in 1867.
— For more on this story, see the June 27 Tribune