A newspaper photograph of Rev. Ralph W. Bagger, pastor of Friedens Lutheran Church, Hegins, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, at the time of the 145th Anniversary of the church. The photo accompanied an article in the Pottsville Republican, November 25, 1961.
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Hegins Church Marks 145th Anniversary With 2 Special Services Sunday Morning
Friedens Lutheran Church of Hegins will celebrate tomorrow the 145th anniversary of its founding in 1816.
There will be two anniversary services, at 8 a.m., and at 10:30 a.m. The speaker for both services will be the Rev. Lawrence E. Nelson, of Philadelphia. Pastor Nelson is Secretary for Youth Work of the Board of Parish Education of the United Lutheran Church in America, and also serves as associate editor of Resource magazine. A native of Iowa, he is a graduate of Drake University and Gettysburg seminary, and served parishes in Baltimore, Maryland, and Bettendorf, Iowa.
The pastor, the Rev. Ralph W. Bagger, will be assisted in conducting the services by the Rev. Frederick G. Erb Jr., who served as pastor from 1954-1958, and who is now pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Easton.
Mrs. Morris W. Krause, whose husband served as pastor from 1914-1918, will bring greetings at both services. Also present will be Mrs. Lev W. Yiengst, whose husband was pastor from 1918-1923, and Mrs. Charles E. Brodell, whose husband was pastor from 1938-1945.
Guy R. Artz, chairman of the Anniversary Committee will present at both services a brief historical sketch of the congregation. The congregation’s two choirs will sing, the Juniors at 8 a.m., and the Seniors at 10:30 a.m., presenting as an anthem an old German hymn, “Wachet Auf!” by Nicolai.
Following each of the services, there will be an informal coffee hour at the parsonage, to give members and visitors an opportunity to greet the guests. The wives of the Anniversary Committee members and of the Council officers have been asked to serve as hostesses.
All members of the community are invited to join in the anniversary celebration.
1st Pastor 31 Years
The first pastor of the congregation, the Rev. J. N. Hemping, served for 31 years. The congregation joined with the German Reformed congregation to build a long cabin type church in 1817. A cemetery was also established that year to the west of the present church building.
The present church building was erected during the pastorate of the Rev. Daniel Sanner, who served from about 1873 until 1889. This edifice is now 87 years old.
On January 10, 1894, during the pastorate of the Rev. I. B. Ritter, the Pine Valley Parish was constituted. Members were Friedens, Hegins; Christ (Stutzman’s), Fountain; St. Paul’s (Artz’s), Sacramento; St. Matthew’s (Coleman’s), Spring Glen; and Zion (Klinger’s), Erdman. In 1896, St. John’s (Kimmel’s), Barry Township, was added to the parish by Conference action. St. Michael’s, Klingerstown, was also a member for a year or two during this period.
On April 1, 1899, while the Rev. Charles A. Kerschner was pastor, the parish bought, for $200, a plot of ground for a parsonage. This land was located several hundred feet east of the church. The parsonage was not actually constructed however, until a new pastor, Rev. Aaron H. Klick, had arrived, but was built during the first year of his pastorate. It was a large, three-story frame house, which served as the parsonage for 57 years. The total cost was $2,335.70.
In 1907, Pastor Klick organized Trinity Lutheran Church in Valley View, and thus a seventh congregation was added to the parish. Five years later, in 1912, the parish was divided. The four lower congregations (Valley View, Sacramento, Spring Glen, and Erdman) withdrew and formed a separate parish, while the three upper congregations (Friedens, Kimmel’s and Fountain) remained as the Pine Valley Parish. At some later time, the name was changed to the Hegins Lutheran Parish.
Probably, the most important development of the thirties was the amicable separation of the union situation, under the leadership of the Rev. Carl H. Moyer, Lutheran pastor, and the Rev. Herman J. Naftzinger, reformed pastor. On November 4, 1934, the Lutheran council appointed a committee of three to meet with representatives of the Reformed congregation to consider division. In March of 1935, the committee reported bask, and the Lutheran council, on March 10, agreed to recommended buying the reformed share in the present building and contents for $5,000. Several months later, on July 14, 1935, the Lutheran congregation approved his purchase by a vote of 41-32;the reformed congregation voted approval on the same date.
The division became effective two years later, and in June, 1937, the church was rededicated after extensive improvements were completed. In 1939, an organ was installed.
Steeple Burned Down
The Rev. Charles E. Brodell was pastor during World War II years. On “D-Day”, June 6, 1944, lightning struck the church spire and the steeple burned to the roof line. Makeshift repairs served for more than five years. A new steeple was erected and dedicated in 1949.
Under the leadership of Pastor Frederick G. Erb Jr., the Hegins Parish was divided on March 3, 1957. St. John’s Church (Kimmel’s), Barry Township, and Christ Church, Fountain, formed the Pine Valley Parish, taking the old historic name of the larger parish; while Friedens Church became a separate pastoral charge, with Pastor Erb retaining the pastorate of Friedens. Thus, for the first time in its long history, Friedens Church had a pastor of its own, not shared with any other congregation. (Since that time, the Pine Valley Parish has divided. St. John’s has formed the Twin Valley Parish with St. Peter’s Church of Lavelle, and is now served by the Rev. Lars B. Staaby; while Christ Church, after having been served for a number of years as a supply point by the pastor of English Lutheran Church, Minersville, is now supplied by the Rev. Burlington B. Latshaw Jr., pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Valley View.
New Parsonage Built
In 1959, following the arrival of Pastor Ralph W. Bagger, a new parsonage was constructed to the south of the church, across the highway, on an acre-and-a-half triangular plot which had been given to the Lutheran congregation by Mr. J. F. H. Long in 1903. Ground was broken on April 19, 1959; and the completed home was dedicated on August 23, 1959, and was occupied the next day. The parsonage is a two-story brick house of modified Georgian design, containing eight rooms, as well as a church office in the basement. Cost of construction was somewhat over $30,000; but the balance remaining due on the mortgage is now less than $13,700.
The entire second-floor interior of the church was redecorated last year. The new Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church was also provided last year.
Friedens Church now [1961] has 538 baptized members.
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News article from Newspapers.com.
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