St. Paul Lutheran Church St. Paul Lutheran Church



St. Paul's Lutheran Church
 (Currently the Prayer Church at a college in York, NE. Picture taken 2011)

          First Service: May 2, 1880                                                                                                                                          Last Service: January 5, 1964


     A small group of Germans, in search of religious freedom and an opportunity to establish new homes for themselves and their families, braved the long and dangerous voyage across the ocean. Imbued with pioneer spirit which was to make America great, they joined by covered wagon, the westward trek which began at the close of the Civil War, reached the Nebraska plains in the late 1860's and early 1870's. The first homes consisted of dug outs and sod houses. They battled the elements, with courage and determination to wrest a living from the soil. Gentle and kind as well as brave they placed their simple trust in God, leaving the tomorrows in his hands. They met each day with a smile even when days were dark and going rough. They arose with the sun, labored until it crossed the leavens and sank behind the western horizon at eventide. Then they cheerfully headed homeward, tired but happy that a day's work was well done. Thus was settled York County.

First Lutheran Pioneers to settle in this area (partial list)
Jacob Reetz 1868 Martn Reetz 1868 Henry Reetz 1868
Karl Reetz 1885 William Reetz 1885 August Hoffman 1873
Henry Marquardt 1872
Charter Members (partial list)

Wilhelm Heiden, Sr. August Sackschewsky Henry Marquardt
August C. Junge, Sr. Emil Marquardt August Hoffman, Sr.
Wilhelm Conrad Ferdinand Kaeding Frederich Bloch

(This is part of the inscription from the Memorial Marker at the gate of St. Paul's Lutheran cemetery.)

      The story of the pioneers who started St. Paul's Lutheran Church three-quarters of a century ago is like that of other early settlers. They traveled in covered wagons over dim trails from the river towns which were to be their trading headquarters for several years. That meant long and difficult hours of travel to secure supplies.
      Deeply religious, the founders of St. Paul's, once they had secured homes for their families, determined that they must have a church of God where all might worship in union to express thanks to the Triune God for the favors he had given them in their new country.
      Non-denominational meetings were being held in the various homes of the new community; but this was not enough for the little band of Lutherans who wanted their own church, their own Minister.
      Inquiries and a study of the minutes of those first meetings which led to the establishment of St. Paul's church reflect the seriousness with which the elders approached their problem and how they solved it.
      But even the minutes, painstakingly transcribed in long hours of work, fail to tell the whole story. Only stories of those early days, handed down from father to son through the generations, can give one the full impact of the sturdy characters of our forefathers. Unfortunately for history, our pioneers did not keep full accounts of their lives. What a history they would make, could they but be recounted in detail.
      The first Lutherans to arrive in the community were John and Fredericka Heiden, Sr. and their family consisting of John Jr., Carl, Wilhelm, Christian, and his wife Marie and son, Wilhelm C., who settled 1 1/4 miles east of the present church site on October 15, 1868, together with August Schultz, his wife, Hulda, and their family.
      Ferdinand Kaeding, a staunch Lutheran, decided to have Lutheran gatherings, and long before there was a resident pastor, the early Lutheran engaged a Christian teacher in the person of Mr. Kugland for the Lincoln Creek settlement several miles northeast of Hampton, Nebraska, who also taught reading, writing, and catechism.
      On December 29, 1878, an organization was formed under the direction of the Rev. G. Endres - the organization to be known as The German Evangelical Lutheran Church.
      Ten acres, which today constituted the grounds of St. Paul's church, were purchased from the B & M Railroad for $50 on Feb 3, 1879.
      Early in 1880 a church cemetery committee was chosen. The church building was nearing completion and was to be dedicated Pentecost Sunday, May 2, 1880. Sunday school was started with August Hoffman, Ferdinand Kaeding and Wilhelm Conrad as teachers.
      In June 1901 it was decided by a church committee to start the process of building a new church as the old one has become much too small to accommodate the growing congregation.
      The 25th anniversary of the congregation was observed in 1903 with three services. The 50th anniversary was celebrated on June 2, 1929.

(Printed in an Old York Co. Atlas)

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