Prayer and Call to Worship.
Pastor: Let us all pray!
Holy God, Creator of Light and giver of goodness, your voice has created and moved and continues to create and move.
You breathed the first hymn into these walls of worship. You set this congregation like living stones of Your Church.
All: We lift our voices in the long echo of Your Grace.
Pastre: For one hundred and twenty years, Your Word has rung like morning bells among us, calling the weary to rest, the broken to heal, and the joyful to deeper joy.
All: Through seasons & time, through wars & winters, through harvests & droughts, You have been the light in our night, the well in our desert and the vine that binds us in one living body.
Pastor: Let us remember today with gratitude and hope. Let us remember and celebrate the many before us, who built, prayed, projected, and paid, who served and preserved: who dared, dreamt and embraced hope and community. All are woven into this sacred space and our shared story.
All: Now, Lord of all seasons, plant in us the seeds of tomorrow: Faith that does not wither, hope that does not fade, and
love that overflows its banks.
Pastor: May this Church remain: a harbor for the lost, a table for the hungry, a beacon for the wandering, a sacred place of worship, fellowship, joy and hope.
All: In the name of Jesus Crist, the Cornerstone and our song for ever. Amen
Reading: Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless his name. For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations.
A Piece of History.
A Promise of Hope.
By Pastor Anne-Grethe
When comedian Mel Brooks turned 100, he was asked what he would like people to say about him and he answered” I would like them to say: he looks pretty good for his age!”
120 years old – and this church and congregation looks pretty good for its age, don’t you think? The Church and the Congregation look pretty good.
“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.” – George Burns.
120 years ago, a small group of Danish immigrants, far from the familiar shores of home of the small but mighty Kingdom of Denmark, gathering in a modest room over a century ago. They spoke in the language of their childhood, and longed to express their faith the same Danish Lutheran way that had sustained their ancestors for generations. They could not have known that their humble vision and longing would grow into a vibrant, local and regional Danish community, — a church that today celebrates 120 years of worship, fellowship, and service.
From the very beginning, this church was more than a building. It was a lifeline — a place where Danish culture, language, and traditions could be preserved and shared. The warmth of a shared meal (yes Danes loved to eat, drink and be merry) the joy of singing familiar hymns (yes Danes love to sing not only hymns but songs that warm our hearts), and the comfort of gathering in in a beautiful church.
In Denmark we have a saying: when two or three Danes are gathered, they are bound to start a Club….
While we do have many Danish Clubs, this was and is not a Club, but a church. A church, a community of faith and hope, a place for shared language, food and laughter, a sacred place for prayers and worship. The founding fathers of this church were innovative, humble and persistent. They had no grand building, no large budget, no social media platform to spread their messages, not even all the freeways to drive, - 120 years ago Southern California and the world looked so different.
Yet the same hope, the same deep need for a community, for shared meals, for sacred moments that founded a community.
For 120 years, the various locations of the Danish Lutheran Church, from downtown LA to Yorba Linda, this church has been filled with the sound of voices lifted in praise. It has witnessed baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and farewells. It has been a place where tears of sorrow and joy have mingled, where faith has been renewed, and where generations have found their spiritual home.
As we celebrate this milestone, we honor those who came before us — the founders who planted seeds of faith, the pastors and leaders who shepherded this flock, and the countless members whose prayers, generosity, and love have sustained this ministry.
The church was founded in 1906 and the congregation gathered in various rented places, until the first Danish Church was built in 1916. A beautiful wooden church at the corner of McKinley and 46th Street in LA.
The Second Location was what many of you call the old Danish Church on 3rd ave and 43 Street in Downtown. A beautiful Danish Church with fellowship hall and parsonage. This church is now a landmark of the city of LA and Victory Church worships there.
And then finally in 1995 this beautiful church was inaugurated. Designed by Danish Architect Ebbe Videreiksen and established due to an impressive relocation work.
So let me do a small survey dear congregation:
1. Were any of you baptized in the first Danish Church 1916 – 1936?
2. Were any of you baptized in the Old Danish Church from 1936 – 1993 – how many of you became members of the Danish Church through those years?
3. Finally: how many of you joined the Danish Church here in YL?
4. WE just welcome our two newest member : Craig and Nathan!
5. How many of you have a Danish Last name – Olsen, Nielsen, Hansen, Jensen, Knudsen, Christensen etc. ?
6. And Lastly: how many of you consider this to be your favorite Danish Lutheran Church?
As the years passed, something beautiful happened. The doors opened wider. The welcome extended further. What began as a home for Danish Lutherans and Happy Danes became a home for all who sought God’s grace and community. Our heritage and Danish ways remained a foundation, but our mission and vision expanded — from serving a single community to embracing the community at large.
What makes this church remarkable is not just its longevity, but its spirit. It is the spirit of hospitality — the kind that says, “You belong here.”
It is the spirit of service and friendship— reaching beyond our walls to meet the needs of our friends, family and neighbors near and far.
It is the spirit of unity — holding fast to our roots while joyfully embracing the diversity of God’s family.
We have celebrated Danish holidays with candles and carols, shared smørrebrød at fellowship tables, and passed down stories of faith and Danish resilience.
Yet we have also expanded our welcome with new ways of expressing the same eternal truth: God’s love knows no borders. New ways of embodying Grundtvig’s words as our motto: Human first, then Christian. A motto that truly encourages us to hold faith, hope and humanity high in a world that needs what we can bring.
120 years.
We are not here merely to admire and celebrate the past, but to live out the mission and vision of faith. Oh, we have our challenges as most Churches do, which our bishop can attest to - and yet we also have so many opportunities and callings. But as your pastor I say with honesty and humility: That the state of the Danish church is strong!
So, we do look forward with vision and hope. Not with nostalgia and fear. Just as the founders of this church 120 years ago could not have imagined the world we live in now, we cannot fully imagine the world 25 or 50 years from today. But we can look forward with hope, innovation and honesty.
Our beautiful church and cultural center are open to our community in ways that expand our Danish Heritage to be more open, inclusive and communal.
We have come a far way since it was remarked: Oh, the Danish Lutheran Church, which is this Country Club where they speak in a weird language and drink snaps.
We might still drink snaps and speak not in tongues but with thick accents, but we are much more involved in our community.
We host affordable Lifeline Screenings, free Up Close and Classical Concerts, make movies and music videos, Host Election, support local Scouts, Monday AA group, Supporting Homeless Shelter, and our Synod. Continuously share our cultural heritage and building new relations.
We are the happy Danes. But also the humble, hospitable and humors Danes. Danes are modest, direct and humble. Actually, without bragging we might be the most humble people on earth, - so also in this aspect are we the best!
Danish humor is a specialty. It is dry, ironic, sarcasm as we try do defuse tension with humor and laughter.
Danes are also very hospitable… but with a side of irony. We value that you are one time, that you give us personal space, that you don’t hug to long and say you love everything too much.
Danes are happy and that happiness comes from a social trust and an ability to enjoy life’s simple pleasures.
The Danish Hospitality, humanity, humility and humor combined with a a deep faith in God, as the Creator, as the Savior and Teacher and as the moving Spirit – truly makes this church, this community a place of kindness, compassion, care, commitment and welcome.
Through 120 years, through wars and peace, through economic hardship and prosperity, through cultural change and technological revolution, - this community has been strong, and here we are. Now it is our story.
We are a community church.
We are a regional Danish Church.
We are a church of the table.
The communion table of hope leads to our many shared tables of lunches, dinners, conversations and laughter.
120 years.
Come let us celebrate and come let us be the church of tomorrow together with hope and hospitality.
Be a voice of humility, dignity, hope, humanity and community in a time and a world that needs what we can offer and what God calls us to bring into the world. Let us be at church together!
Lord, thank you for every year, every life, every blessing.
Keep us faithful, keep us Happy and keep us bold.
Amen.