08/29/2026
From the Archives... "Can you imagine all the changes for our LCMS pastors over the years? I found a few articles on some of the first missionaries in ND and all they went through to bring the word to our people. One such missionary was Rev. Albert Rubbert. He came to North Dakota in 1900 after his graduation from seminary and pastored for 50 years at Zion, Kramer. He set up preaching stations around the area and even into Canada. Each Sunday, he preached a minimum of three times, often up to five times, at various nearby stations. He traveled through flooded streams (few bridges existed) and got lost in many snow storms. He lived through drought, prairie fires, dirt storms, and seven years of grasshoppers plus three years of total crop failure during the 1930’s. He lived through an illness of smallpox. During 1917-1918, the flu took so many people - he buried 14 people in 14 days. He never shied away from sitting and praying with the sick during the awful flu.
Rev. Rubbert retired in 1950 and moved to Seattle, where two of his married daughters lived. He lived until 1967, and his wife Emma had died two years earlier. His dedication to preaching was passed on through his son Rev. Felix Rubbert who became executive secretary for the ND District back in the 1960’s. And just think, we make excuses to stay home when it’s raining or snowing! What a dedicated pastor he was!"
Read more from District Historian Vicki Peihl here: https://ow.ly/Jxgi50Zx72p
