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St. Paul marking 135 years

By MARIDEE LAWSON

Thursday, October 30, 2008

St. Paul Lutheran Church will be turning 135 years old on Nov. 16. The anniversary celebration will be a one day gathering to celebrate the church. Children from the school will be making banners to hang in celebration of the 135 years of service.

The congregation originally met at Copenhagen Public School building. Once a month Pastor F. Besel, of Gordonville, would come and hold services. On Nov. 13, 1873, the building the services were being held in caught fire and the congregation knew that was a sign to organize. On Nov. 16, 1873, a meeting was held at a tailor shop on Columbia Street in Farmington.

Organization was effective that day and a certificate of incorporation was issued on Nov. 23, 1875 with the official full name of the organization: “German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul’s congregation of the unaltered Augsberg Confession at Farmington, St. Francois County, Missouri.”

The first pastor to officially serve the congregation was C. F. Obermeyer, who was ordained and installed Aug. 9, 1874, by Pastor Besel at the Northern Methodist Church on Henry Street in Farmington. He was a graduate of the Seminary in St. Louis and served at St. Paul for three years.

The constitution of the church was revised Dec. 15, 1918 from German to English.

Pastor James King was called in 2000 to serve as Associate Pastor and is now the Senior Pastor, while Pastor David Oddi was called in 2007 to be the Associate Pastor, and is still there.

The school was created in 1874, the year after the church began, and will celebrate its 135th anniversary next year.

“The founders saw how important it was then for a Christian education and they will celebrate the school’s 135th anniversary next year,” Pastor King said.

Invitations were sent out to former pastors and teachers. Pastor Merlen Wegener will be speaking at the special service Sunday afternoon, Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. He was a pastor at the church for 25 years.

There will also be pictures from the first confirmation class as well as the last on display. 

“It’s more time for fellowship and to give thanks for everything that God has done for us,” Pastor King said.

The theme for this year’s celebration will be “A Time to Look Back.”