In 1886, missionary Ole J. Norby, a native of Norway, arrived in Mandan and found many Scandinavian Lutherans. Recognizing the need for a church, a group of pioneers gathered on April 18, 1886, at the rural home of Mr. and Mrs. Hans Benson, six miles west of Mandan near Marmot, to organize a Lutheran congregation.
Five years after the congregation was founded, its first church—a small wooden structure—was built in the Syndicate area of southwest Mandan. The first section of the current church, at Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue NW, was completed and opened in 1957. It replaced a 44-year-old wooden building at Eighth Avenue and First Street NW.
In 1961, the congregation celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding by dedicating its third church building. The Reverend Carsten F. Brien, who had served the congregation since 1949, led the celebration. Three members were honored during the dedication: Mrs. A. C. Hermanson of Mandan, Oscar Carlson of the Stone community, and Mrs. Nancy (Carl) Hendrickson of the Heart River area. Carlson and Hendrickson had been baptized on April 18, 1886, the day the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church was established.
In 1996, the congregation dedicated a major addition with a special service followed by a meal. The nearly $1,000,000 (about $2,053,000 in 2025 dollars) project began as a renovation of the original 1957 building but expanded to include 4,300 square feet of new space, bringing the complex to 26,422 square feet.