Bethel Moravian Church
15407 49th St SE
Leonard, Cass County, North Dakota 58052
15407 49th St SE
Leonard, Cass County, North Dakota 58052
The first worship services of Bethel Moravian Church were held in homes in the Leonard, N.D., area when the church was formed in 1891. Later they were held in a schoolhouse, then in the new parsonage.
In 1900, the congregation built its structure in rural Leonard. The cost: about $6,500. That included its new bell, which cost a whopping $131.31.
But it didn't include an altar painting. That would come later. And when it did, it didn't cost the church a nickel for the labor because the man who painted it was a hired man on area farms, and he did it for nothing.
Not much is known about Leonard Kjolso, other than what was published in Bethel's centennial book in 1991,
That book says Leonard, born in 1889, worked on threshing crews in the Leonard area, that he was artistic and that he had studied oil painting in Minneapolis.
It portrays Christ praying in the garden of Gethsemane shortly before going to the cross.
The artist was Leonard Kjolso, but little was known about him other than that he died in 1980.
Leonard was born in 1889 in Norway. He came to Canada in 1907 and then went to Minneapolis, where he studied art.
In 1912, he married Julia Erickson, also a Norwegian, and moved to Leonard, where he did farm work and they raised four sons. The youngest of those boys was Wilfred, who was born in Leonard in 1918.
When Leonard offered to paint the backdrop, Bethel, which had built its structure in 1900, took him up on it. So, using a Sunday School card illustration as his guide, he painted the scene in his spare time. And he did it for free.
The Kjolso family eventually moved to Edmonds, Wash., where Leonard and Julia spent the rest of their lives.
Leonard worked as a house painter, but he did oil paintings on the side.
In 1900, the congregation built its structure in rural Leonard. The cost: about $6,500. That included its new bell, which cost a whopping $131.31.
But it didn't include an altar painting. That would come later. And when it did, it didn't cost the church a nickel for the labor because the man who painted it was a hired man on area farms, and he did it for nothing.
Not much is known about Leonard Kjolso, other than what was published in Bethel's centennial book in 1991,
That book says Leonard, born in 1889, worked on threshing crews in the Leonard area, that he was artistic and that he had studied oil painting in Minneapolis.
It portrays Christ praying in the garden of Gethsemane shortly before going to the cross.
The artist was Leonard Kjolso, but little was known about him other than that he died in 1980.
Leonard was born in 1889 in Norway. He came to Canada in 1907 and then went to Minneapolis, where he studied art.
In 1912, he married Julia Erickson, also a Norwegian, and moved to Leonard, where he did farm work and they raised four sons. The youngest of those boys was Wilfred, who was born in Leonard in 1918.
When Leonard offered to paint the backdrop, Bethel, which had built its structure in 1900, took him up on it. So, using a Sunday School card illustration as his guide, he painted the scene in his spare time. And he did it for free.
The Kjolso family eventually moved to Edmonds, Wash., where Leonard and Julia spent the rest of their lives.
Leonard worked as a house painter, but he did oil paintings on the side.