Three Old Churches

What made my recent road trip especially enjoyable was being able to shoot three old churches that have been on my “bucket list” for a long time. On the list of photo ops that I mentioned I also rank them on how good they might be. This comes in handy when you have more opportunities than time. Sometimes you have to make difficult choices. When this happens, the more information you have, the better the likelihood that you’ll make the right choice.

I’ve been wanting to shoot them for quite a long time and I was excited to finally get a chance to do it. Although each added about 2 to 3 hours of driving, I thought that was a small price to pay especially considering the total driving time we would have. My only regret is not having more time to spend on site and having more choice of when I visited. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to re-visit them.

Estonian Evangelical Martin Luther Church

Estonian Evangelical Martin Luther Church is a beautiful old (1914) church in a small clearing in the Northwoods. I’ve seen a lot of photos of this church; summer and fall, day and night and they’re all simply beautiful. I had hoped to capture it set against the bright colors of the autumn leaves but I missed the peak of the season by a week or two. The composition of all of these is generally similar; looking down the dirt road to the church. This is because the sightlines are limited and there are some rather unphotogenic items nearby too.

Below are two versions; color and black and white. This is a case of liking both versions but for different reasons. I like the way the light and vibrant autumn foliage highlight the church in the color version. In the black and white version I like the tonality and the way it brings out all the textures of the scene.

old churches estonian evangelical — Estonian Evangelical Martin Luther Church
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old churches estonian interior — Interior- Estonian Evangelical Martin Luther Church
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Immanuel Lutheran Church and School

The next church is the old (1886) Immanuel Lutheran Church. In 1966 the church disbanded and parishioners moved to neighboring congregations.

I guess you could consider this a “three-fer” site as it includes an old school building and a cemetery. As a result it makes for quite an interesting scene. There is the old abandoned church and school buildings with dead trees in a line along the road bordering the church. The old cemetery is across the road. All of this sits out on a seemingly barren plain. Off in the distance an oil pumpjack creeks ominously. Because of all this, my wife very appropriately described as looking like a scene in a scary Halloween movie.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see a composition that I liked that combined all of these elements in one shot. And I’m okay with that. This is because I’ve learned that sometimes you have to drop nice elements from the composition to minimize distraction from the subject.

old churches immanuel lutheran — Immanuel Lutheran Church and School
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St. John’s Lutheran Church and Cemetery

The last old church is St. John’s Lutheran Church and Cemetery. St. John’s is an old country church on a dirt road well off the beaten track. The church was “organized” in 1841. I don’t know if that is the date it was built or even if this is the original church. It is a beautiful old church nonetheless. The steeple is missing: much of the exterior cladding is gone. And yet it is still standing. It is clear that the site is maintained. Some of the graves have flags. The cemetery is still active although not frequently. The newest grave is 2014 and the second newest is 1979.

old churches st johns — St. John’s Lutheran Church and Cemetery
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The Thing About Old Churches

I really like old churches. I think this is because the character of an aging church has a certain beauty that I find captivating. When churches show their age, it reminds you of all they’ve been through. They are the scene of some the happiest and some of the saddest time in people’s lives. Additionally, with abandoned churches we naturally start wondering why where they abandoned. Was it a loss of faith, or some other factor? Our mind is captured by the possibilities. Because of this, you get an emotional connection to old churches. So needless to say, my bucket list has a lot of old churches on it.

The other interesting thing about old churches at least in regard to this road trip, it’s that they are all Lutheran. I wasn’t aware of that until I got home and did more detailed research. Maybe it’s just coincidence or maybe it’s a sign that if you want something built well, get a Lutheran to do it.