125 Years of Life
As of October 2008, we have entered our 125th year of life. Let's look at what it took for the founders to have a church building for St. John Church.
This decade began with a change in the Evangelical denomination. Stressing liberty of conscience and authority of the Scriptures and their common liberal German Protestant heritage, the churches of the Reformed Church of the U.S. and the Evangelical Synod in North America united in 1934 to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Thus, we became St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church.
After 40 years of ministering to the congregants of St. John church, Rev. Strauss retired in 1940. During these last years of his ministry, there were 35 Christenings (including one adult baptism), 50 Confirmands, 23 marriage ceremonies, and 27 deaths.
He was followed by Rev. Joseph F. Krueger who, with his family, arrived in 1940 to be our second settled pastor. With his arrival, a parsonage was necessary and that resulted in the building of the first parsonage in 1941. It is shown above. On March 29, 1942, the first confirmation class after the arrival of Rev. Krueger added 15 members to the rolls of the church.
August 1941 St. John was accepted as a member of the Germania Mutual Aid Association and paid a fee of $5.
From the date of the arrival of Rev. Krueger through 1943, there were 4 christenings (including one adult baptism), 6 marriage ceremonies, and 5 deaths.