A Brief History of Saint Luke’s (1906 – 2011)
The story of the church really begins with the workings of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of some of the Evangelical people residing in and near Faribault, creating in them the desire to have the Word of God preached to them in their own faith. With this desire, in 1906 they went to the Rev. William Koring, Pastor of St. John’s Church in Wheeling Township, ten miles east of Faribault, and asked his help.
Willingly, this faithful servant of God made many sacrifices to come to Faribault to preach and baptize the children, thus starting a preaching station and planting the seed from which this congregation has grown. By the end of 1906 there were 30 adult worshippers attending the services. Then on January 13, 1907, a meeting was held and the Congregation was organized under the name of Deutsche Evangelische St. Lucas Gemeinde (German Evangelical St. Lucas Congregation).
Services were held in rented quarters, first in the Norwegian Lutheran Church on Third Street. Later they moved to a church on First Avenue N.W., between Seventh and Eighth Street, and then to a church on Eighth Street. N.W.
On May 17, 1907, a special meeting of the Congregation was held, and it was decided that the Congregation should become a member of the German Evangelical Synod of North America. The chief focus of this denomination was the proclamation of the gospel and Jesus crucified and the second aim of its organization and activity was of Christian Unity.[1]
The year 1908 saw the congregation move rapidly. At the Congregational meeting on January 12, it was decided to make application to the General Church Building Treasurer for a loan to erect a church building for the congregation. The Rev. William Meyer, who was building the St. Lucas Hospital that year and was its Superintendant, was present at this meeting and was elected the Pastor of the church, a position in which he served, along with his Hospital work, until 1920.
On November 8, 1908, the Congregation voted to incorporate, and to make application to the mission board for $700.00 with the understanding that a church building would be erected during the year 1909. On January 3, 1909, a committee was appointed to buy property for the new church and a site was selected and purchased. Work began almost immediately, and the cornerstone of the new building was laid on May 16, 1909, while the completed building was dedicated on August 29, 1909.
In 1918 the language question came up for the first time in regards to the Sunday School, and the following year, English Services were held two time a month on Sunday evenings. In 1923, as more English speaking people were attending the Services, it was decided to have an English Service on the first Sunday morning of each month. In 1923 it was also decided that the work of the Hospital and the Church had grown to the point where it was no longer advisable to have the same man for both jobs, and so the St. Lucas Congregation decided to hire a full time Pastor. By 1926, the demand for English had become so great that it was decided to keep all minutes of business meeting in English, for the benefit of non German speaking people.
In 1941, in keeping with the merger of the Evangelical and the Reformed Churches, a new Constitution was adopted, and the name of the church was changed to St. Luke’s Evangelical and Reformed church. In 1944 the last mortgage was burned and for the first time in the history of the church, the congregation found themselves to be debt free!
In 1957, as a result of the union of the Congregational Christian Churches with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the church came to be known as St. Luke’s United Church of Christ.[2]
In 1970, the new church building at 1100 9th Ave was dedicated. “Unless the physical growth represented by this new structure is matched by evidences of spiritual growth in our Christian living, we have built in vain. Unless a new church is matched by new lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit a dedication is a hollow affair. The psalmist was never so right as when he said: ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’” (Pastor A.M. Guthmiller, 1965-1975).[3]
In January 2004 St. Luke’s began to review and compare our faith beliefs with those of the United Church of Christ (UCC) with whom St. Luke’s was affiliated. After months of prayer and research, it was concluded that St. Luke’s church believes the Bible to be the word of God and contains the final authority on questions of faith and practice. The UCC had moved very far from this faith heritage. At a special congregational meeting on June 20, 2004 St. Luke’s voted to leave the United Church of Christ and become a nondenominational church.
On September 19, 2004 the congregation voted to rename “St. Luke’s United Church of Christ” and became “St. Luke’s Church.”
Now in 2011, God is bringing life to generations at Saint Luke’s through the gospel. Since January, we have had eight believer’s baptisms and a number of public professions of faith in Jesus. As we look to the future, we believe that God is leading us to glorify Him in the power of the Holy Spirit by making disciples (Grow) who exalt his name in worship (Worship), evangelize the lost (Share), and encourage one another to love and good works (Serve).
The history that will ultimately matter will be God’s story of His work in His church. We pray that God would use Saint Luke’s to make history that lasts.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11–14).
