St. John (Barner's) Lutheran Church

St. John (Barner's) Lutheran Church. Pioneer Church and School. , Some sources indicate a congregation formed as early as 1786 on land owned by Swiss immigrant and farmer Adam Barner. The first pastor, The Rev. George Geistweit, was called in 1794. Tradition holds that, on the sie of the Adam Barner Memorial, a weather-boarding log building called "Dupes," later "Barner's," served as both church and school., In 1872, the present church, built of local bricks, was constructed across the road from the original location. Mennonite, Reformed, and Lutheran congregations, mainly made up of Barner and related families, financed the $3,500 house of worship. In 1927, the congregation became St. John (Barner's) Lutheran Church, The Rev. Gilbert D. Strail, pastor., In 1888, the school district sold the log school building, one of the last in Perry County, for $20. They purchased land from Samuel Barner and built a new school of red bricks for $891 next to Barner's Church. The school closed in 1945 and the church bought the property in 1951 for $500. The congregation built a connector between the church and parish house in 1980, adding meeting rooms., An apple butter boil was initiated in 1952 to help pay for the school purchase. Since 1963, all proceeds from this annual event have been used for charitable purposes. In recognition of this unique activity, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. invited the congregation to make apple butter at the Festival of American Folk Life for our country's Bicentennial in 1976., The church has evolved from a small frontier meeting house and school to a Reformed congregation, and finally a Lutheran congregation. To all who pass through the doors of this little church with a big heart, the dream of finding Jesus Christ has been made a reality.