Church History

It As we reflect on the history of our beloved congregation, there is so much to be thankful for.  We remain in awe of those pioneer leaders who were settling in our area, and who realized the need for Spiritual guidance.  Then as they moved forward to organize a Christian organization, they also realized the need for rules to guide them and a record of their work. 

Minutes of their activities were documented. Also, a record of all the pertinent information, such as births, weddings, confirmation, etc., was established in a large formal record book. Of course, all entries were made in German, the language in which they spoke. 

Since there are a very few today who could easily translate those documents, we are grateful to the faithful women and men who saw fit to print the history in booklet form for the 75th Anniversary celebration. Those saints were able to read the information, and also to converse with some of those early leaders. And since that time the history has been updated in the form of a centennial booklet, and later for the 125th year in 2011. Only partial updating has been done since then, to my knowledge. 

That large record book, its cover faded and its pages loosened from their binding, has been kept secure in a deposit box at Pinnacle Bank for nearly 45 years. It has been occasionally reviewed by pastors searching for baptism or confirmation records. 

We are indebted to, William Holscher, Jr  “Billy”, for translating the original minutes of the voters assembly into English, and written in long-hand form in a 5x7 inch binder.  It has since been transcribed into typed form and also archived in digital print. 

(Gene Holscher)