First Lutheran Church Holds Swedish Meatball Dinner

It was all about the Lutefisk’s side dishes of meatballs and lefse Wednesday night, held outside the church.

DULUTH, Minn.- It’s been more than a year since lutefisk has made its way to the gullets of the northland for the annual Lutefisk dinner, so First Lutheran Church honored it this year with the next best thing – Swedish meatballs and Lefse.

It was all about the Lutefisk’s side dishes of meatballs and lefse Wednesday night, held outside the church. Guests could gather around the fireplace to enjoy, or take meals home.

“I think that it’s a huge tradition because it’s what people remember. It’s a link to their past their grandparents to their heritage to just what used to be,” said Pastor Josh Blair.

Since the event normally involves dozens of elderly more at-risk volunteers and draws crowds of hundreds, Pastor Josh Blair said scaling back and offering just meatballs allows them to gather for the event safely during the pandemic.

“It’s so important just to gather as a community to be out and show that even though we can’t do everything like we used to we can do things differently,” Blair said.

The church hopes to have the lutefisk dinner in all its fishy glory sometime in early 2022.