By the mid-1940s, the Swedish Baptist Church on a Troy, Idaho, country road had long been standing empty because many of the members had moved away. Rumor had it that the church was going to be used for a chicken coop.
Roy Nelson, whose father and grandfather had helped build the church, checked out that rumor with one of the former Baptist members. “If you want that building kept as a church, you can have it for $100,” Nelson was told.
R.J. Kegley, who at that time was the Lewiston, Idaho, pastor and evangelist, had recently held meetings in the area and the newly baptized members wanted a church in Troy since they had been attending in Moscow, the neighboring town. And so the church with its quaint wainscoting was rescued from being a chicken coop and became a Seventh-day Adventist church.
The church was later moved about two miles over the fields to its present site in the Troy Big Meadow area because the church was next to a public elementary school and the church members wanted their own church school.
Recently, the church celebrated its 60th anniversary. Eva Lou Carlson Deibel, who was just a child when the church was first started, planned the event. The church overflowed with former members and pastors coming to recall memories of that old country church in the wildwood.
Lyndi Littler created a video interviewing members of the early days and others who told of the church activities through the years. Many loyal Adventists can point to their spiritual beginnings in this now 156-member congregation.
Changes have been made to update the church. The original building is now the fellowship hall. A new sanctuary has been added, and the outhouse is no longer there. The church is located four miles from Troy, but community members often attend functions. God has blessed.
Of the 10 charter members, six remain. Holding certificates made by Gregg Ewert of College Place, whose mother Ivy unable to attend are, from left: Tom Nelson representing his mother Lorraine, who was unable to attend, Orvil Carlson, Mary Elsie Carlson, Eva Lou Carlson Deibel, Ramona Carlson Large, who wrote a poem for the occastion, and Leroy Carlson.
The Troy church began with 10 charter members in 1946, and six of them are still alive. From left: Tom Nelson representing his mother Lorraine, Orvil Carlson, Mary Elsie Carlson, Eva Lou Carlson Deibel, Ramona Carlson Large and Leroy Carlson.
The Troy (Idaho) Church had its beginnings in 1946 when the original structure, destined to become a chicken coop, was moved to its present location.
