Immanuel Lutheran Church (LCMS), Rural Beemer, NE

Immanuel Lutheran Church in rural Beemer is the oldest LCMS congregation in the state of Nebraska. The following history is reprinted from the July 16, 2008 edition of the West Point News.
Immanuel Lutheran Church has a rich history of growth and change. In January of 1868 a group of 19 Lutheran families requested a truly Lutheran pastor to be sent to Rock Creek in Cuming County. When pastor Adolph Frese arrived he learned that his services were no longer required because a number of the original group had followed another man who had promised to instruct their children.

However, a Christian woman had died a few days earlier and Pastor Frese was asked to preach at her funeral service. As a result, 24 men signed an agreement to form a Lutheran congregation on Feb. 16, 1868. This was the beginning of Immanuel Lutheran Church of rural Beemer, the first Missouri Synod Lutheran Church in Nebraska.
The first services were held in the homes of members. In the summer of 1871 the church was built on the Elkhorn River bluffs near the site of the present Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery. The present church was built in 1887 one and a half miles south of the original church site.
Immanuel Lutheran School was organized in 1869 and closed in 1981.
The interior of the church has been renovated a number of times over its 121-year history. Major renovations were undertaken in the mid-1950s, resulting in much of how the interior appears today. A Wicks pipe organ was also added at this time.