The land for the Tabernacle

Ebenezer Church - Ten miles northwest of Lehr, original pastor was Reverend E.C. Oeder. Founding families were: Koepplin, Scherbenske, Klein, Miller, Kautz, Wagner, Gabel, Weixel, Tarnosky, Finck, Hellmuth, Bauer, Baltzer.

Tabor Church - Twelve miles northeast of Lehr, original pastor was Reverend E.C. Oeder. Founding families were: Ruff, Buchholz, Bender, Krueger, Ehlhardt, Koenig, Grabau, Fercho, Fotte, Kosanke.

The land for the Tabernacle was provided by Jacob Nagel from his tree claim (similar to a homestead claim) providing a wonderful wooded piece of land for this structure. The construction was done primarily by local German-Russian farmers from the towns in the Camp Association, with Phillip Miller as construction boss, and some of the workers including J. J. Scherbenske, William Koepplin, G.G. Scherbenske Jr., and Martin Erbele. Reverend A.H. Ermel of Wishek served as the architect with plans that were thought to have originated in Germany. The women of the churches also contributed by providing noon meals and two lunches per day for the workers. Each construction day began and ended with prayer for this work.

The Tabernacle is octagonal. Originally it had dirt floors covered in straw and provided bench seating for about 1500 with just one center aisle. Some accounts also mention sitting on straw bales covered in blankets. About the fourth year, the Memorial Board was started. Later - a cement floor was laid and pews from local churches installed. Seating was expanded to fit 2500 people.

The Tabernacle was considered "modern" from its start, built with electric lights generated by a gas motor (set far enough away from the building so services wouldn't be disrupted). Initially the back of the Tabernacle included four small bedrooms for visiting pastors.

The grounds included a kitchen - only a tent at first, but later a real kitchen building was constructed, although the dining hall remained in a tent. Over time 7 the campground buildings continued to expand. Dormitories were built, and in the late 1960's the camp was connected to the Lehr city water system making showers and rest rooms available. The kitchen and dining room were remodeled.