The Aardahl Lutheran Church, which is located in Section 30 of Frohn township, was organized in 1896 at an organizational meeting held in the home of one of the charter members. Iver Ungstad visited the various settlers and aroused their interest in organizing the church. Since few roads existed during those early days, the members had to undergo many hardships in traveling to the meetings, and this condition continued even after the church building itself was completed.
The charter members of the church included: J. B. Hanson, Gundar Aakus, E. J. Langerak, Paul Froirak, Gunstein Froirak, Olaf Larson, John Norbo, G. G. Moi, Paul Kvale, Ole T. Heglund, Even Moe and Iver O. Ungstad. The first officers of the church were Iver Ungstad, secretary; Gundar Aakus, treasurer; J. B. Hanson, Olaf Larson and Ole T. Heglund, trustees.
The early services of this church were held in the homes of the individual members and in the school house. Then in 1900, the congregation decided to erect a suitable place of workshop for their organization and through Mr. Ungstad’s efforts, the site for a building was donated, as was the site for a cemetery, which is just south of the church building. Material and labor for the new building resulted from donations by members, and the first thousand feet of lumber for the church was also a donation by M. Ungstad. The building was erected on top of the ground, and the present basement was not dug until years later.
The Aardahl congregation of the Norwegian Lutheran church of the town of Frohn will celebrate the 17th of May. As the 17th comes on Sunday, services will be held in the forenoon with Rev. A. Amundson officiating. Dinner will be served by the Frohn Ladies Aid society of the church, after which there will be speaking and music. It is expected that a large crowd from Bemidji and other outside points will attend. (May 1908)
“Syttende Mai” fest will be held at Aardahl’s Congregational church in Frohn Sunday. Judge C. W. Stanton, Attorney E. E. McDonald and B. J. Bjornoraa will deliver addresses. Dinner will be served at noon. “Syttende Mai” was observed in Bemidji last evening at the First Scandinavian Lutheran church of
which Rev. Osmund Johnson is pastor. A special program was given. (May, 1916)
The district Lutheran Conference was hosted by Aardahl and the Nymore Lutheran Church on Nov 6-7, 1920.
During the early years, the following pastors served the local congregation: Rev. Lars O. Opsata, Rev. Carl Amundson, Rev. Andrew Hegre, and Harold M. Bueide. Durin Rev. Amundson’s pastorate, the Nymore Lutheran Free Church was organized and became a sister church of the Aardahl church. Rev. Amundson served a split term and during his absence, Rev. Hegre, who was a recent graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary of St. Paul, served the local call, which included the churches at Malvik, Pony Lake, Nymore and Aardahl. Rev. Bueide came to succeed Rev. Amundson, who retired from active church work, and moved to Minneapolis.
Information was gathered from the Vertical Files of the Beltrami County History Center, and from early issues of the Bemidji Daily Pioneer.