OTHER ST. JOHN’S HISTORICAL DETAILS
The North Platte Valley was served by pastors of the Missouri Synod when the western part of Nebraska was being settled. The Principal headquarters of our church were at Alliance and Hemingford, Nebraska.
The North Platte Valley’s real development came when the Burlington Railroad built a branch line through the valley. Among the pioneers were Lutherans. These people were served by the Missouri Synod.
The first resident pastor in the valley was Pastor H. J. Eggold. In 1909 he was called to take care of the mission work in the valley. At first he made his headquarters at Mitchell but later moved to Scottsbluff.
The first church of our Synod was St. James of Scottsbluff in 1911. The following year candidate A. H. Guettler was called to Gering. Among the places served by Pastor Eggold and Guettler was St. John’s of Scottsbluff. St. John’s congregation was organized under the leadership of Pastor Eggold in 1916. The first families were Mr. and Mrs. Otto Genz, Mr. and Mrs. Ono Goos, and George Bender and family. Services were held in the home of Mr. Goos by Pastor Eggold of St. James. In 1917 the services were held in the Christian Church, then the Congregational Church on Fourth Avenue, then upstairs in the J.C. Penney building, and then the homes of the members again. Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Kath joined the small group of Christians. Soon student candidates A. H. Guettler, Branhorst, and Hein arrived to serve this small congregation. Pastor Alfred Saeger was installed as the first pastor of St. John’s on August 25, 1918.
On account of the influenza epidemic during the fall of 1918, services were unable to be conducted for ten weeks.
A.G. Kath located two lots at 23rd and Broadway and the members decided to purchase the lots for $1700. The members raised enough money for a small down payment and hoped the Mission Board would help with the balance. The deal was closed in June 1919. Construction on the bungalow type church started in April 1920. Dedication services were held the third Sunday of August 1920. The Adolph Kath’s offered the family organ if the congregation would pay the freight from Seward, Nebraska. The organ was secured and played by Adolph Kath for 20 years.
Dedicated August 1921
Interior 1921
A young people’s society was organized soon after the dedication of the church. The main feature of this organization was to be Bible study. In 1923 this youth group joined the international organization of the Walther League. The first confirmation class of the youth was held two weeks after the dedication of the new church and the first adult class was confirmed in the spring of 1921. During the first six years of its history, St. John’s grew to 55 communicants and 100 souls, with 30 children enrolled in the Sunday School.
In 1936 St. John’s purchased the empty Mitchell Church owned by District. This building was disassembled and moved on the present site and dedicated in 1937. Bricks were hauled from Hastings by Fred Koenig. Members donated an estimated 600 days of work to build the church, Lutheran Laymen’s League club organized, and radio devotions begun three days per week on KGKY. The new building was dedicated by 389 worshippers. Adult choir organized in fall and directed by Herman Miller.
During Pastor Webber’s leadership the membership increased until there was a need for larger facilities. January 5, 1950, Frank McNett of Scottsbluff was engaged as architect to present plans for remodeling the church. In February 1954, Fullen Construction Company was the contractor and estimated the cost to be about $90,000 which included the furnishings, heating plant, plumbing and electrical equipment. Pastor Alfred Ernst was pastor during this time. The finished addition contains the new chancel, choir section, pastor’s and secretary’s offices and overflow space for church attendance. The new basement section and the room above the offices provide extra class rooms.
Church 1955
On February 1, 1981, our new pipe organ was dedicated. A fund was set up to save for this new organ. When enough money was saved, we purchased the organ and it arrived December 16, 1980, and construction for the new organ began January 5, 1981. The instrument is a two-manual and pedal organ built by the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence, KS, and installed by its Denver representative, Moral Associates. The organ contains 14 ranks of pipes, numbering 925, built in a freestanding case.
On August 5, 1985, the new Education/Fellowship Building was dedicated to the glory of God during the worship service. Myron Loseke of Loseke Construction gave the keys to John Steinmark, chairman of the building committee, who then handed them to Robert Ullrich, chairman of the congregation, in symbolic transfer of ownership. The 116’ by 36’ building has six classrooms with folding partitions to allow the space to be used as additional room for larger gatherings. The classroom area is carpeted. The western half of the building has tile flooring and will be used for meetings and adult Bible classes. This section of the building also contains a fully equipped kitchen and handicapped-equipped restrooms. The forced-air furnaces and air-conditioning units are above the ceiling. The total cost, including the furnishings is $126,000. The building committee of John Steinmark, Kirk Lacy, Joe Miller, Les Leuthaeuser and Donna Vogel was appointed at the quarterly meeting. This committee, with Pastor Burnell Beyers and Pastor William Gratz, met repeatedly to design plans for the new structure.
