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Our History
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HISTORY OF MOUNT CALVARY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH On Sunday, January 4, 1904, in a rented room on the second floor of 15 1/2 East King Street the Reverend J. George Borneman, Pastor of Saint Paul's Lutheran Church in Columbia presided over the first worship service of Mount Calvary. The room was furnished with thirty-six newly purchased chairs and a part of a store counter that served as an altar. An organ, lectern, and baptismal font were donated by Saint Andrew's Church in Pittsburgh. Seventeen were in attendance at this first service. Worship services continued in this room until May of that same year when the Missouri Synod Mission purchased the former Saint Matthew's Church property and furnishings on North Ann Street for what then seemed to be the unreasonable price of $1,000! Many members of Saint Matthew's joined the original seventeen in officially forming Mount Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Reverend Harry C. Muhly, who later became the first Executive Secretary for Missions and Stewardship in the English District, was installed as the first pastor August 28, 1904. A constitution was drafted and Mount Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church was formally organized with twenty-four charter members on September 13, 1904. The first officers of the congregation were: Fred Bowers, President; Fred Miller, Vice President; John Sachs, Jr., Secretary; and; Harry Musselmann, Treasurer. Serving as Deacons were John Sachs, Sr. and Fred Miller. These officers together with Pastor Muhly and Elam Buckwalter comprised the first Church Council.
By
June, 1905, it was apparent that the chapel would soon be too small. So
in faith (the cash balance on record for October, 1905, was 50 cents),
two lots at the corner of Plum and Clay streets were purchased. By
February, 1906, construction had been authorized for the new church
which was subsequently completed and dedicated on November 4, 1906. In April, 1911, the congregation purchased an adjoining lot which first served as the site for the parsonage, and eventually as additional Sunday School rooms and the Church Library. June, 1911, marked the first summer Bible School which became the forerunner of the long-standing "Vacation Bible School" tradition at Mount Calvary. This has been considered the first summer Bible School in Lancaster. Mount Calvary maintained this strong commitment to children and to the neighborhood by providing facilities for local scout groups, worship space for the Latvian Lutheran worship services, Mount Calvary Christian Corner Day Care Center and a public meeting and election site. The dual blessings of neighborhood service opportunity and steadily increasing membership both enabled and necessitated continued improvements to the facilities. After many years of sustained growth the congregation recognized the potential for increasing the Lord's work and the limitations for further expansion at Plum and Clay. In May, 1988, a capital campaign "Venture Forward in Faith" was launched and an earnest search began for a site to construct a larger church. The search culminated with the purchase of a tract of land on East Petersburg Road in July, 1988. This purchase was soon followed by the acquisition of an adjoining property to accommodate future expansion. Following the sale of the former church home at Plum and Clay in March, 1993, ground was broken for construction that same month. After eight years of planning and eight months of construction we rejoiced in dedicating this new worship home to our Triune God! Our new church had become a reality through the prayers, perseverance and physical efforts of members who, with the invaluable contributions of the Laborers for Christ were responsible for its construction. We now press on with the great commission in confidence that our Lord will continue to sustain His church, as He did for the original seventeen who "Ventured Forward in Faith." Contributions are still being given towards this endeavor now named “Growing in Faith”.
The next expansion was the addition of the new Evangelism Wing. It consists of a large social room, easily divisible into as many as four smaller rooms (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). 2004 was a year of celebration for Mount Calvary Lutheran’s centennial. From our humble beginnings in a rented room on East King Street to the building of our first church home on Plum & Clay, to holding the first Vacation Bible School in Lancaster County, to our moving into our present facility, the Triune God has blessed our congregation.
PASTORS OF MOUNT CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH Reverend Harry C. Muhly August, 1904 - June, 1910 Reverend O. C. Kreinheder October, 1910 - February, 1916 Reverend R W Hilgendorf May, 1916 - January, 1917 Reverend P. Mayer January, 1917 - November, 1920 Reverend Louis T. Buchheimer August, 1921 - September, 1929 Reverend Samuel S. Shore November, 1929 - September, 1970 Reverend Richard Gahl September, 1970 - June, 1981 Reverend Karl Frincke March, 1982 - April, 1993 Reverend Henry Bojarzin (interim) September 1993 – October 1993 Reverend Thomas Spahn July 1994 – October 2004 Assistant Reverend Jeffrey Webb January 2002 – June 2005 Reverend Jeffrey Webb June 2005 - Present |
