St. Paul United Church Of Christ

St. Paul United Church Of Christ. . , St. Paul United Church of Christ, of Waterloo, Illinois, had its beginning in 1846, in response to the formation of new denomination in Europe…a merger of many churches of German Reformed and Lutheran origin into the United Evangelical Church of Prussia. , The new United churches founded mission societies Germany and Switzerland, and where, during the first half of the 19th century, sent pastors to the Mississippi Valley in the United States to work with the German immigrants. , Rev. William Binner and his family came to Waterloo in January 1846. He preached the first German sermon in the old courthouse and began a school of instruction in the fundamentals of education and essentials of the Christian faith in a house on the northwest corner of Mill and Main Street. , The first church, which was known as the German Evangelical Church, was dedicated in November of 1847 at 114 West Third Street with a congregation of 12 families. This building served the congregation until 1856. The building was sold in 1927 and demolished in 1972. , In 1856, the growing congregation added a parsonage and a schoolhouse next to the church building. The schoolhouse, fondly referred to by many later generations as "The Dutch College" housed the parochial school, which had been established four years earlier. The school closed when the public school was established in 1866. , The year 1856 marked the dedication of a new and larger church building at First and Market Streets, a structure which would serve as the congregation's house of worship for 118 years. , In 1874, the steeple was replaced with a more massive spire extending to a height of 125 feet, new bells were added and a weathercock of hammered copper made by Lewis Wall of Waterloo was placed atop the steeple. , In 1875, Reverend Holke led the congregation to the adoption of a new constitution, which changed the name of the church to "St. Paul's Evangelical Church". , Beginning in 1914, monthly evening services in the English language were introduced in response to a decline in the use of the German language in the community. The decline was accelerated during World War I as many people came to feel that the use of the German language was unpatriotic. , Reverend G. F. Brink arrived in 1917 and his leadership in the ministry of music remains yet evident. He organized an orchestra and a band, which later became the nucleus of the Waterloo Municipal Band - a group that has become beloved by the Waterloo community for generations. , In order to accommodate the growing Sunday School and increased activity in church programming, the construction of the Parish Hall was completed in September 1927. , In 1934, after the merger of the Evangelical denomination with the Reformed Church, this church became known as St. Paul Evangelical and Reformed Church of Waterloo. Then in 1962, pursuant to the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed churches with the Congregational Christian denominations, this church changed its name to St. Paul United Church of Christ. , Because the church building was deteriorating, construction of a new building was begun in 1973 on the corner of Main and First streets; it was dedicated on June 23, 1974. The weathercock was removed, repaired, and covered with gold leaf and placed on the spire of the new church. The three bells in the bell tower were made by the Stucksteade Bell Company of St. Louis. The largest was cast in 1874 and the two smaller ones in 1880. , The Weathercock , The weathercock which tops the spire of our house of worship is a sign of both our Christian heritage and our ethnic roots. , Although not common in this country, a rooster is seen on the steeples of many Protestant churches in Europe, where the practice began with the day Reformation. , The rooster is also an advent symbol calling people to "arise, awake and get ready" to join God where his "Spirit" is at work in the world, as indicated by the direction of the "wind" pointed out by the weather vane. , Church Leaders , Reverend William Binner: 1846 - 1849 . Reverend Dr. Gottlieb Steinert: 1849 - 1875 . Reverend Fredrich Holke: 1875 - 1885 . Reverend John Nollau: 1885 - 1917 . Reverend G. F. Brink: 1917 - 1928 . Reverend R. A. Mensendiek: 1929 - 1931 . Reverend Hans Kochheim: 1931 - 1942 . Reverend John H. Schultz: 1942 - 1945 . Reverend Otto C. Bassler: 1945 - 1970 . Pastor Fred Wehrenberg: 1971 - 1998 . Pastor Stephen Gifford: 2000 - 2002 . Pastor Kevin Brown: 2003 - 2005 . Pastor Doug Roberts: 2006 - 2010 . Pastor James Watson: 2013-2018 . Reverend Jeff McCarn: 2021