Emmanuel was originally organized by Rev. Charles E. Johnson, pastor of American Lutheran in Billings. To begin with, it was served by interns from American Lutheran, and the first resident pastor was Rev. Erling R. Estrem who came in 1947.
The roots of the congregation go back to 1912 when Rev. Halvor S. Quanbeck of the Lutheran Free Church formed a congregation among Norwegian-American settlers who came from North Dakota. Services were held from time to time in schools. Pastor Quanbeck donated three acres of land for a church site and cemetery, but the building was never constructed. The congregation was eventually dissolved in 1920.
In the meantime, the LCMS had started work in Shepherd in 1915. The church and parsonage were built in 1918. This congregation also dissolved in the 1930s. In 1907 the Dutch Reformed church people from Michigan started work among 80 families who had moved out. They built a church but dissolved in 1943. In 1944, Emmanuel finalized arrangements with the Christian Reformed Church at a cost of $2,000.
Pastoral History
- Charles E. “Cully” Johnson, 1937 – 1945
- Erling R. Estrem, 1947 – 1949
- Ralph Glenn, American Lutheran (Interim) 1950 – 1951
- Oliver C. Carlson, 1951 – 1954
- H. F. Huseth, American Lutheran (Interim), 1955
- Ole Helland, 1955 – 1965
- Elvin Tollefson (Interim), 1966
- Wendell J. Brown, July 1966 – May 1969
- Douglas R. Behm, June 1969 – July 1972
- John V. Schleif, September 1972 – July 1975
- Patrick W. Mieritz, October 1975 – July 1979
- Paul M. Everett, July 1980 – 1983
- John O. Tweeten, 1984 – October 1990
- James Smith (Interim), November 1990 – May 1991
- Daniel Hooks, June 1991 – January 1994
- Richard Bahnson (Interim), Feb 1994 – July 1994
- Ronald Hovick, August 1994 – January 2000
- Thad Person, April 2000 – April 2004
- Sharon Korsmo, February 2005 – April 2007
- Linda Rose, September 2007 – May 2014
- Mark Morgenstern, June 2014 – October 2019
- Interim and Volunteer, November 2019 – August 2021
- Keith Weatherford (Intern), August 2021 – July 2022
- TBD