History of St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hamburg, Pennsylvania

History of St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hamburg, Pennsylvania

This history appeared in Morton Montgomerys 1908 edition of The History of Berks County, p. 1378.

Surnames: KERCHER, KEARCHER, MISHLER, LEHMAN, KNOSKE, ENGEL, STREIN, WALZ, KELLER, IAEGER, EBERMAN, KLINE, ZWEIZIG, DRUMHELLER, MILLER, GABLE, KLINE

St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hamburg, Berks County, Pa. Since
June, 1901, the Hamburg charge has
consisted of three congregations, namely, St. Johns, Hamburg; Zions
Perry township, and St. Pauls, Windsor
township.

In 1773, a period when Hamburg was a wilderness and people worshiped in
private houses, a Martin Kercher, or
Kearcher, donated a piece of land to be used by the Lutheran and
Reformed people as a place of worship. The first
structure was built of logs and was dedicated in 1790 the lower floor
being used as a school room and the upper as a
place of worship. About a score of years later a larger building was
erected, with a weather vane in the shape of a
fish, and its pulpit fashioned like a tulip, which served until 1857,
when a more spacious one took its place, and was
burned to the ground in 1898. The present church was erected at once and
was ready for use early in 1899.

St. Johns has a bible society of three hundred members, a Luther Guild,
a Luther League, a society formed by the
children of the congregation and called The Childrens Temple, and a
Lutheran Aid Society. The organization last
mentioned has done noble work, among its activities being the purchasing
of a splendid pipe organ, contributing rich
altar cloths and collecting more than $4,000 for the liquidation of the
indebtedness on church and parsonage.

Following are the ministers who have preached for the Lutheran
congregations: Peter Mishler- not ordained; Rev.
Daniel Lehman, 1778-1803; Daniel and John Knoske, 1803-1816; Rev. F.
Engel, 1816-1823; Rev. Carl Strein,
1823-1828; Rev. Ludwig Walz, 1828-1832; Rev. F. A. M. Keller, supply;
Rev. G. F. I. Iaeger, 1832-1860; Rev. J.
H. Eberman, 1860-1861; Rev. S. S. Kline, 1861-1867; Rev. T. T. Iaeger,
1868-1880 (German); Rev. Benjamin
Zweizig, 1868-1880 (English); Rev. C. K. Drumheller, 1880-1883; Rev.
O. D. Miller, 1884-1896; Rev. Z. H.
Gable- supply for a few months; Rev. H. C. Kline, 1897-

[Supplied by Rev. H. C. Kline]

Note: The 1898 building of St. John’s Church in Hamburg was designed by architect Milton B. Bean. He designed many Lutheran churches in a wide area over the 1880’s, 1890’s and 1900’s.

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