Sunday morning church services at the historic Oahe Chapel overlooking Lake Oahe near Pierre will begin May 26.
Public ecumenical services are held at 8 a.m. CDT each Sunday through Labor Day. The chapel is located adjacent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Visitor Center, approximately five miles north of Pierre on SD Highway 1804. Services are hosted by the Pierre-Fort Pierre Ministerial Association and the Oahe Chapel Preservation Society.
Churches participating in the 2019 Sunday services include the following:
- May 26 Southeast United Methodist Church
- June 2 Trinity Episcopal Church
- June 9 Oahe Presbyterian Church
- June 16 First Baptist Church
- June 23 Pastor Roger Easland
- June 30 First Baptist Church
- July 7 First Congregational United Church of Christ
- July 14 New Life Assembly of God, The Blood Washed Band
- July 21 Pastor Roger Easland
- July 28 TBA
- Aug. 4 New Life Assembly of God, The Blood Washed Band
- Aug. 11 Resurrection Lutheran Church
- Aug. 18 Pastor Roger Easland
- Aug. 25 TBA
- Sept. 1 Trinity Episcopal Church
The Oahe Mission was established in 1874 by Rev. Thomas L. Riggs, a Congregationalist minister, and his first wife, Cornelia Margaret “Nina” Foster, to serve as a mission to the Sioux Indians of central South Dakota. The chapel, built in 1877, was originally located on the east bank of the Missouri River at Peoria Flats, roughly five miles upriver from its current location.
The chapel was moved to its current location in 1964 after construction of the Oahe Dam flooded the original site. The chapel is owned by the South Dakota State Historical Society and managed by the Oahe Chapel Preservation Society, which oversees its maintenance and preservation.
For more information on the Oahe Chapel summer services, the Oahe Chapel Preservation Society or how to rent the chapel, contact the State Historical Society at 605-773-3458.
Photo: The Oahe Chapel, built in 1877, sits atop the Oahe Dam five miles north of Pierre and will host Sunday morning church services again this summer. (Photo courtesy of South Dakota State Historical Society)
