MONA, Iowa - Mona Lutheran Church will celebrate its 125 anniversary Saturday.

Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Mona, Iowa, was organized Sept. 29, 1876, at the Mona schoolhouse, according to excerpts from the 100th anniversary history book in 1976.

Prior to organizing as an independent congregation, Mona Lutheran Church was part of the St. Ansgar Norwegian Lutheran Church from 1853 to 1859. It was part of the Six Mile Grove Congregation until 1875.

The Rev. C.L. Clausen was responsible for bringing Lutheranism to the area.

Land was purchased for the church in 1883; the present church building was built in 1882 for $5,000. In 1910, 38 families withdrew from the congregation and organized Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Lyle.

The fellowship hall was added in 1963 and redecorated in 1998 to give it a Norwegian look.

Over the years, there have been 19 pastors, with the newest pastor, Lydia Mittag, ordained at the end of July. Pastor Alan Gunderson, of Adams, filled in for Sunday mass.

Current membership includes 85 baptized individuals.

Another big part of the congregation was its Sunday School, organized in 1887 by B.J. Hanson and Ole Holt. The first confirmation class, with 15 members, was in 1884 and since, 750 people have been confirmed at Mona Lutheran.

To celebrate their 125th anniversary, a committee formed to discuss events and activities commemorating the special day.

There will be a 10 a.m. church service, followed by a 2 p.m. program and drive-in service at 7 p.m. Drive-in services began during the service of the Rev. Einar Unseth (1969-1975).

An average of 100 cars attended each service, with many different states represented.

During the program, there will be music and pastors from earlier years will return and share memories. It took about a year and a half for the planning to be complete.

Margaret Meyer, who has attended Mona Lutheran for the past 72 years, is quite excited about the upcoming festivities.

Her three sons will be singing during the program. Meyer is also part of the planning committee that helped put the celebration together.

She feels it will be a fun day for everyone.

"A lot of former pastors will be there," Meyer said. "We'll be able to hear about the history of the church, things that we didn't know before."

Mavis Hanson, who has been a member her entire life, is also on the planning committee with her husband.

They've sent invitations to past ministers and also planned fund raisers.

To commemorate the occasion, they will be selling sun catchers, cookbooks with favorite recipies from congregation members and a new history book.

The new book will not be ready until after the celebration, however, as they will be putting in photos from the day for everyone to remember.

Hanson is hopeful that the day will allow the congregation to carry on the faith of the past 125 years.