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History of St. John’s Lutheran Church

St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized by Pastor C. Engelder on May 15th, 1893.  Prior to that time, early area Lutherans were served by various missionaries and pastors from Hancock and Calumet.  Public services were conducted in the school, and later in the Methodist church in Lake Linden, and in a hall located near the church.  Twelve men signed the declaration and resolved to build a church.  The cost of the building and real estate was $1486.50 and the church building was dedicated on August 13th, 1893, three months less two days after the organization of the congregation.

The first organ was purchased in 1894.  The congregation was incorporated and became a member of the Missouri Synod in the same year.  The altar and pulpit were dedicated in 1897, and are still in use today.  The first residential pastor was Pastor Hy Prekel in 1898.  A parochial school was started in the fall of 1898 and continued as late as 1919.  A parsonage was built in 1898 by the church members themselves. In 1903, regular worship services were conducted in German with one service per month in English.   The first furnace was installed in 1910, and the bell in 1913.  Among the pastors serving St. John’s in those early years was the somewhat prominent theologian the Rev. Dr. John Theodore Mueller.  Pastor Mueller served St. John’s from 1913-1917, and later went on to become a professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, as well as the author of numerous books, including Christian Dogmatics.  The last resident pastor at St. John’s was Pastor Hugo Bloedel.  He resigned in 1927.   After that, the congregation was served by pastors from Hancock and Laurium until May of 1942.  At that time they joined to Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Laurium – a dual parish relationship that continues to this day.  In 2018, St. John’s celebrated their 125th anniversary. Our current Pastor, Rev. Bryan Lundquist, was installed in November 2016.