Over three Sundays in September 2018 St. Michael Lutheran Church celebrated our 50th anniversary.
On September 9, we were visited by Leonard Schnell, a Moravian missionary who made the arduous journey from Pennsylvania in 1749 to preach the first sermon in the New River German settlement, near the present location of St. Michael Lutheran.
Pastor Leonard Schnell (Neil Muir)
An open-house followed the service, featuring musical performances by the Altman Family Singers, Jeff Birch, Doug Smiley, and Emma Patterson.
On September 16, we celebrated the life of St. Michael with the Word and Sacraments, shared with us by four amazing pastors: Linda Mitchell Motley, Paul Henrickson, Bishop Robert Humphrey, and John Wertz.
Pastor Linda Mitchell Motley, Pastor Paul Henrickson, Bishop Robert Humphrey, and Pastor John Wertz
Our worship service was followed by a delicious potluck lunch, special anniversary cakes prepared by Sandy Williams, and an excellent slide presentation of our history created by Bryan Katz. The fellowship hall sparkled with the gold and silver decorations designed by Emma Patterson.
St. Michael Lutheran Charter Members
A number of our charter members were recognized during the luncheon. Pictured left to right are Carol Crawford, Billy Brown, Marguerite Olinger, Jim Clemens, Dianne Krallman, Peggy Price, Angie Gunther, David Surface and Fran Shepherd, council president and luncheon mistress of ceremonies. Fran noted that 50 years ago, her father, Ross Brown, was president of the New St. Peter Council and the joint council at the time of the vote.
On Sunday, September 23, the celebration continued with worship, bulb planting around the churchyard, a hot dog picnic, and blue grass music provided by the Clergy Mountain Band.
Pastors Paul Henrickson, David Delaney, and Jim Mauney rocked the fellowship hall. The celebration continued on through September 30, noting that September 29 is St. Michael Day in the church calendar.
See more photos on the St. Michael Facebook page, and read more about the history of the church and the anniversary celebration in the August, September, and October newsletters.
Special thanks to everyone involved in the celebration:
- to the celebration committee of Fran Shepherd, Carol Crawford, John Kell, Emma Patterson, Bryan Katz, and Sandy Birch, for planning and organizing the event
- to our custodian Marty Gordon for his extra efforts
- to Kay Edge, Jay Nagle, Bob Brown, and Ron Brewer for getting the Circle of Grace ready for visitors
- to John Kell, Sarah Ryan, Jody Smiley, Dianne Krallman, Mary Nickle and others for organizing the Micah’s Initiative places
- to Jack Graves, Jessie Brown and Alec Alderman who cleaned and staffed the Teen Room
- to Jan Helge Bohn and some of his Scouts for their demonstrations in the fellowship hall
- to Wilma Pieper for hosting guests in the sanctuary
- to the Altman Family Singers, Doug Smiley, Emma Patterson, and Jeff Birch for their beautiful music during the Open House
- to Anna Rossomando who organized the art show in the classroom hallway
- to Judy Clemens and Kristie Snyder who prepared the Mother’s Morning Out and Head Start classrooms for visitors
- to Carol Crawford for organizing 50 years of pictures, records and memories stored in multiple boxes
- to many of you who baked dozens and dozens of wonderful cookies
- to Hank and Alice Schneider and their crew for preparing and serving lunch on the 23rd
- to Pastor Paul Henrickson who prepared three excellent St. Michael Lutheran Church history lessons for us on three consecutive Sundays, in addition to meaningful and moving sermons on Faith, Hope, and Love during our time of celebration.
- to everyone who baked, cooked, cleaned, organized, sang, greeted, pulled weeds (Dickie Shepherd, Ron Brewer and John Kell), created and donated a wonderful banner for the sanctuary, prepared communion – 5 times! (Jeanette and Michelle Pasier, Lynn Hickok and Barb Corbett), took pictures and videos (Jackie Muir, Ben Crawford, and Dean Trimble) and simply shared their love for St. Michael Lutheran Church with their church family and the community