Apostolic Lutheran Church in New Ipswich, New Hampshire

 

The first church building fo the Apostolic Lutherans in New Ipswich, NH

The first church for the Apostolic Lutherans of New Ipswich was built around 1905. According to the interview data, the church was originally built for both Finnish Evangelical Lutherans and Apostolic Lutherans, but quite soon it was under the sole control of the latter. In the last years of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Finnish immigrants had begun to move from the state of Massachusetts, including the cities of Fitchburg, Worchester, Quincy and Maynard to southern New Hampshire to cultivate rocky fields abandoned or sold by others. Isaac (Pirtti) Aho (1857 - 1931) was the first local preacher from about 1900. Antti Raketti (originally Pylkäs, 1838 - 1913), who moved from Brocket, North Dakota, was also a local preacher in the early 20th century. However, in the late years he separated from Laestadianism and was a preacher of the Finnish Congregational Church and lived in Quincy, Massachusetts.

The Apostolic Lutheran Church of New Ipswich joined the Federation of the Apostolic Lutheran Church in the split of the 1920s. Letters of the era suggests that both the congregation and also its preachers were long in the two stages. After the dispersal, small groups of Heidemanians and Pollarites remained in the area. Charles Hautanen (1878 - 1965) and Edward Lehtinen (originally Nyström, 1864 - 1936) preached to the Heideman-group. After joining the Apostolic Lutheran Church, the congregation's preachers and lay priests were Isaac Aho, mentioned above, and his sons Emmanuel Paul Aho (1888 - 1972) and Matti P. Aho (1901 - 1985).