Around Swedish America in 548 Days - Day 366

Day 366 - Manson

Happy New Year on this our first day on the extended trip around Swedish America that the Twin Lakes Bible Camp in Manson, now known as Twin Lakes Christian Center, 2524 W Twin Lakes Road (712-297-7714), preserves in its compound the first Mission (Friends) Covenant Church in the United States. Organized on July 4, 1868, at Swede Bend, the congregation was led by Carl August Svenson Björk (1837-1916), a native of Lommaryd, Småland. Greatly influenced by the läsare (readers or pietist) movement, Björk left Sweden in 1864 to join his brother in Swede Bend. When the local Lutheran church split, Björk persuaded a group meeting in the home of Peter Englund to form the first Mission Covenant congregation. Built by Methodists in 1861 and sold to Björk and his group in 1874, the structure served the Swede Bend Covenant congregation until it was relocated to Manson in 1976.