Delafield Evangelical Lutheran Church, located in a fertile, rural pocket of southwestern Minnesota, was founded by Norwegian settlers in the 1870s and had provided spiritual and social sustenance to subsequent generations in that community for over a century. That continuity was broken in 1998 when the aging, dwindling congregation was forced to face the harsh realities of current American rural life. They did what they had never dreamed possible - they decided to disband the congregation and give away the church, a building that had been so central to their lives. Why did this happen? Delafield Evangelical was an important part of filmmaker Mark Brodin's life growing up. Using the church congregation of his childhood as a starting point, he explores the dissolution of this community and of similar rural communities across America. Like most of the younger generation raised in rural America, Mark Brodin left the family farm to go to college and moved to the city after graduation. When his mother called to tell him about the closing of their old church, Mark returned to Delafield Township, determined to find out how things had gotten that bad. Through interviews with neighbors and family members, who have been in Delafield since its founding, Brodin elicits a story that is being played out in small farming communities across the nation. He discovers what he already knew - that the economics of family farming just don't add up any more. The farmers tell how the price of grain has fallen so low that they have to grow more than ever to make a profit. Growing more means investing in the latest expensive machinery and technology, but the profits never seem to cover the cost of production. Farm subsidies make up the deficit but don't solve the problems. As the elders of Delafield say, farming is no longer a profession they can in good conscience pass on to their children. Delafield is now a township of mostly senior citizens, their children and grandchildren having moved on. Senator Paul Wellstone Transporting the church Brodin goes to a meeting, a Farm Forum, in Marshall, Minnesota, a place where farmers and politicians get together to talk about solutions. But, as Mark says, "It's gotten so complicated that even the good guys don't know what to do." Senator Paul Wellstone addresses the assembled crowd, "I think we agree about the way this affects people and why it's unjust and why it's wrong, but the question is what to do about it." But as the old-timers talk about a lifetime spent on the land, they convey a love of farming and a passion for their calling, articulating how difficult it is to leave behind this vanishing way of life. If there is a solution, it does not come in time to save the church. The congregation sadly participates in the final service and final potluck supper, a last communion for the heart and soul of Delafield. Friends and family from thousands of miles have come together one last time to celebrate Delafield's strong heritage of faith and hard work. Over the next few months, the church's contents are auctioned off and the building disassembled. It is moved to Fort Belmont, a historical tourist site 22 miles down the highway. "I wonder at a future without rural churches, small communities and family farms," says Mark Brodin. "I know it's not a future America wants, but we're on that road."
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