About Us


In 1871, as Spring approached the tiny Danish settlement in the southeast corner of Fairfield Township in Grundy County, Iowa, a small group of settlers came together to organize what was to become the Fredsville Evangelical Lutheran Church. Early accounts tell of how people would gather in homes on Sunday to sing hymns, read the scriptures, confess their faith, pray together and sometimes hear a sermon read.

These original settlers came from Wisconsin, but many more were to follow from the home country of Denmark. Through the years many other people of various ancestries have added their unique flavor to Fredsville, but all join together in one common heritage - Jesus Christ their Lord. In this gathering whose name means "peaceful rest" or "peaceful village," we lovingly worship, study, support, and serve.

Today our community thrives with the excitement and challenge of a growing ministry.
• On Sunday mornings worship God with others, receiving God's promise through the Word declared in sermon and song, the washing of Holy Baptism, and the feeding of Holy Communion.
• Visible are the joint efforts of our youth and members of all ages. On any given day you may find our junior and senior highers dangling from the group-building high ropes course at Bible camp, engaged in Bible study that connects with daily life, planning cooperative ministry as a Leadership Team, or getting personally involved in serving others in their needs.
• Wednesday nights you'll see junior highers and adults actively involved in small group confirmation where worship, active learning, fun, and fellowship in the body of Christ go hand-in-hand.
 • Take a trip through our Sunday School area and be greeted with the wonder of Bible stories told through floor-to-ceiling paintings that teach the children and involve them with the God whose love is therein witnessed.

• Whether you're young in age or young in heart, add your voice to those of our choirs or your strength to the ringing of a handbell. Delight in God's Word conveyed through the wonderful power of music.

• Do you enjoy a good story, cherish the wisdom of an experienced friend, or appreciate the thankful smile of someone both touched and touching? Then come to our monthly fellowship time with our elderly who now live at the Cedar Falls Lutheran Home. Called Fredsville Fellowship, we meet on the second Monday of each month in the Board Room of the Lutheran Home at 11:00 a.m.
• Whether you've read the Bible from cover to cover, or have never seen one apart from the name "Gideon" stamped on it, you'll appreciate the various Bible study offerings on Sunday mornings, during mid-week, or connected with women's circles and other small group fellowships.
• And although many of us are no longer Danish, we still enjoy some of the old celebrations such as Christmas-time dancing around the tree and eating aebleskiver, those delightful pancake balls.

What does the future hold? God only knows, but we have peace in knowing the God who holds us in that future. May you know him too, Jesus Christ our Lord. Join us at Fredsville, the village of peace, and be uplifted by God who embraces this community of believers.

Jesus said, "I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn't like the peace that this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid." (John 14:27, Contemporary English Version)