Ogden Gospel Tabernacle - A Sesquicentennial feature story

The Ogden Gospel Tabernacle was a landmark in Ogden, Iowa for over 50 years. It was located where the present bank building stands, just across from the Swedish (Immanuel) Lutheran Church. A house had to be moved to make room for the building. The M. (Minneapolis) and St.L. (St. Louis) Railroad ran parallel to the road between the Tabernacle and the Swedish Church.

Rowland Carlson’s memory was that the Tabernacle was built in 1925 and was about 40 by 80 feet. To this writer that seems a bit too large, but was not far off the mark. It was essentially one room though over the years, two rooms were carved out of the total: one to make a kind of cloak room and rest room on one side in the back, and one on the other side to make a prayer meeting room. At the front (north) of the main room there was a rather large platform and to the left of that a furnace, originally coal and later converted to natural gas.

The theology of the Tabernacle was orthodox and evangelical. Its views were similar to those of the founding fathers and mothers of our major Protestant denominations. There was an affirmation of the Trinity including the belief that God was and is the Creator of this universe, the accountability of all persons to God for their deeds, the atonement for sins through Christ’s death on the cross, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, answers to prayer, divine providence and the return of Christ at the end of this age.

At first there were no worship services each week. The ministry was mostly through a Sunday School which was conducted Sunday afternoons. There was from the beginning, a missionary emphasis which channeled money chiefly to the Oriental Missionary Society. Support for that group continued throughout the life of the Tabernacle.

Old Sunday School attendance books showed that there was quite a long list of attendees and visitors. Many of the family names would be recognized by old time Ogden residents.

A complete story appears in the Jan. 11 issue of The Ogden Reporter.