Ryssby Church

Ryssby Church is located outside of Longmont in Boulder County, Colorado. The church was built in 1882 by Swedish immigrants, although it was disused between 1914 and 1924. A dedicated committee from First Lutheran Church, the descendant congregation of the Ryssby and Elim churches, maintains the church, organizes events and funds continuous improvement projects. The church hosts weddings, church picnics, an annual Midsummer service and Christmas candlelight services in early December.HistoryIn 1862, Sven J. Johnson, an agent for the White Star Line, along with Bengt Johnson, Aaron Peterson, Sven Magni, Peter Johnson, Lars J. Johnson and Samuel Gummeson, set off from their homeland in Ryssby, Sweden, to come to America seeking free land under the Homestead Act. In the first years, Sven's home, the only framed hous, was the community center and served as a church. In 1875, a school house was built and the services moved there.In 1877, Rev. Frederick Lagerman came to the Ryssby settlement to be the spiritual leader, and in 1878 he organized a congregation among the settlers, calling it the "Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Ryssby, Boulder County Colorado." The new congregation was affiliated with the Augustana Synod. In February 1878, the congregation officially called Rev. Lagerman to be their pastor and in January 1881, the congregation accepted the offer from Hugo Anderson for 3acre of land on which to build the church. August Olander donated sandstone from his homestead to be used as building materials and by Oct. 31 of that year, the cornerstone of Ryssby church was laid.