The group that would later form River Heights Lutheran Church came to be when the Lutheran Church merger took place in 1917. Out of concern for doctrinal purity based on the Word of God, several families believed they could not, in good conscience, go along with the merger. Instead, they bravely broke away from their church to form their own. They would not compromise on Scripture for the sake of external unity. For a number of years, these families met together for worship, oftentimes in their own homes. During this time, they were served by various confessional Lutheran pastors in the area.

In 1927, a number of members took it upon themselves to build a church on the farm property of one of their members, just outside of Fisher, Minnesota. This small and faithful church body continued to be served by various pastors in the area until they were able to issue a call to Rev. Bjarne Teigen, who was installed in 1937. The church body then entered into the reorganized Norwegian Synod (now the ELS) on December 18, 1938.

After some years, and by God’s grace, the church moved to East Grand Forks and named themselves River Heights Lutheran Church in 1957. In 1980, River Heights sold their current church building and broke ground on a new church site. The new church was dedicated in April of 1981.