Partners for Sacred Places is pleased to announce the launch of our new website, Preserving Nordic American Churches: www.nordicamericanchurches.org. The website focuses on Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish heritage churches and is an important expression of Partners’ work to lift the profile of historic sacred places.
The centerpiece of the website is a searchable database of Nordic heritage churches in the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We are launching with over 1500 Nordic heritage churches identified during the initial three years of our project. We will update and add information during this project’s second phase.
This first-of-its-kind inventory demonstrates the variety of sacred places found across the region and will make it easier for scholars, practitioners, and members of the public to find them, visit them, support them, and preserve them. Additional website links provide context to the database and draw from project research and from Partners’ ongoing work to help congregations of historic sacred places better serve their communities as anchor institutions.
We encourage you to use this resource to learn more about some amazing Nordic American churches, and to share this site with others who may be interested, such as congregations and nonprofits caring for these buildings, denominations, ethnic organizations, historic preservation professionals, and individuals interested in the history, architecture, and decorative arts of Nordic heritage churches in these six Upper Midwest states.
Many thanks to our partners in State Historic Preservation Offices, archives, universities, and churches who have helped make this project possible.
For more information, contact:
Partners for Sacred Places
1700 Sansom Street, 10th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 567-3234
partners@sacredplaces.org
