History of the Andover Seventh-day Adventist Church
In 1899 the Minnesota Conference of Seventh-day Adventists rented the Commercial Hotel in Andover to hold its first state school at the academic level. This hotel was located on the northeast corner of what is now Main and Ferry Streets. The small group of Adventists in Andover then worshipped with the school group for the Sabbath services during the school year. This school was the forerunner of what is now Maplewood Academy in Hutchinson, Minnesota.
The Andover Adventist group felt they should have a permanent church home. Upon learning that the Baptists we wanting to sell their church on Ferry Street, the group decided to buy it. The church was built in 1858 and was in good condition. The twenty-one charter members bought it from the Baptists in October of 1900 for $650.00.
In the year following the purchase of the church, a church school was started and continued for several years.
Beginning in 1915, the highlight for the Seventh-day Adventist church in Minnesota was the annual Camp Meeting. It was held in Andover for the next forty years. Because of the growth of the city surrounding the grounds, Andover was becoming an unsuitable place for this annual event. It was voted by the Minnesota Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in 1955 to sell the property back to the city of Andover.
As the years went by, the membership in the church continued to grow. In 1966 an addition was built to the rear of the church on Ferry Street that would serve as a Community Center. Mrs. Lorraine Forncrook was in charge of this service. Hundreds of families were helped in times of need with clothing, bedding, furniture and food regardless of their background or religious affiliation.
After serving this congregation for over seventy years, the church on Ferry Street was sold in 1973 to a real estate developer. Our current property on Round Lake had been purchased in 1971. Construction began before the former church was sold, so the congregation would be assured of a meeting place when it came time to sell the old church. It was through the dedication and hard work on the part of former pastor, Elder H.I. Jarnes, that the current facility developed into a reality.
In the late 1970’s the congregation decided to open up an elementary school. The church school was operated in the church basement. For a number of years this seemed to be a suitable arrangement for both the church and school. As time passed, it became evident to the congregation that the school had outgrown its basement facility and was in desperate need for more space. In 1993 the current school building was purchased on Lincoln Street and Andover Adventist Christian School was moved to that location.
Former pastors include Elders Catlin, C.E. Edwardson, G.W. Wells, H.M. Hiatt, T.J. Rush, Harold Schmidt, Lawrence Burgeson, J.C. Zollbrecht, Vernon Emmerson, H.I. Jarnes, Clarence McKey, Bruce Juhl and Jan Follett. Pastor David Kobliska has been serving the congregation since 2002.
Please e-mail additional information or inaccuracies to webmaster@anokasdachurch.org.
