St. Sebald

Emanuel Lutheran

St. Sebald Church Held 75th Anniversary Sunday

Strawberry Point - St. Sebald Lutheran church, located five miles northwest of here, observed its 75th anniversary of the building of the church by special services Sunday.

The St. Sebald congregation had been organized by professors of the seminary located here at that time, in the year 1854, and for the first few years the services were conducted by the professors. Later, a full-time pastor was called.

The first building was a small frame structure, which served for the parsonage, church, and bible school. It was voted to build the present church building in the fall of 1867. Much native material was used and other material was hauled from McGregor by ox team. The pews were home-made and the first altar was fashioned from a large dry goods box.

In 1918, at the time that the diamond anniversary was observed, a pipe organ was added. Other improvements have later been added.

The congregation has had six pastors in all. They are: J. List, until 1875; G.W. Fuehr, 1875-1918; L. Gebrt, 1918-1920; F.W. Knappe, 1920-1926; G. Melchert, 1926-1936; Rev. Paul Eilers, 1936- .

~Oelwein Daily Register, 2/10/1943

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St. Sebald's Traces Its History Back to Man Who Was Never in United States
by Mrs. Alwin Zwanziger

Strawberry Point - St. Sebald Lutheran church, one of Iowa's first of that denomination, traces its history back to a man who never set foot in this country. His name was William Loethe, the father of missionary institutions in Neuendettelsau, Germany. Loethe's personal influence caused many young men to come to America as missionaries.

Two of these men, the Rev. Johannes Deindoerfer and the Rev. G.M. Grossman, came to Iowa in 1853 with a group of 20 students and colonists. Mr. Grossman established a seminary in Dubuque.

Mr. Deindoerfer and the small group of colonists traveled on to Clayton county and settled at St. Sebald in the fall of 1853. Here the parsonage was built. It was also used as a church and school and called St. Sebald am Quell (St. Sebald by the Spring) in German.

It was here that the Evangelical Synod of Iowa was organized in 1854. In 1930, this along with the Buffalo synod and Joint Synod of Ohio merged to form the American Lutheran church.

St. Sebald has been in continuous operation since its founding in 1853.

The present church was erected in 1867. A parsonage was constructed in 1878 and a school house a year later. The church's steeple was added to the original dwelling in 1903.

St. Sebald's seventy-fifth anniversary was celebrated in 1928 with dedication of a pipe organ. About ten years ago extensive remodeling was done on the parsonage.

In 1941, Mrs. Cuney Oldoerfer Koehler left the church some money in her will. The funds were used to redecorate the interior of the church and buy a new altar and pulpit.

By special subscription, a new roof was also put on the building at this time.

Out of St. Sebald's congregation have come two daughter congregations, Emanuel Lutheran church, Strawberry Point, and St. John's Lutheran church at Arlington.

It has a baptised membership of 208 and a confirmed membership of 156.

The longest pastorate in the church's history was that of the Rev. G.H. Fuehr who served from 1875 through 1918 when he retired at the age of 80. Present pastor is the Rev. Robert E. Glaser who bagan his ministery in September, 1948.

~Cedar Rapids Gazette, 5/7/1949

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Strawberry Point Lutheran Churches Closely Linked Historically
by Mrs. Alwin Zwangiger, Register Reporter

Strawberry Point - The history of the two Lutheran churches at Strawberry Point is closely connected since the one is really a daughter to the other. The history of the St. Sebald congregation located north of Strawberry Point goes back more than 100 years to the early 1850's. Pastor Wilhelm Loehe of Neuendettelsau, Germany, was responsible for sending more than 300 missionaries to German Lutherans in North America about the middle of the centruy. Among these 300 were a group of pastors sent to German colonists in the area around Saginaw, Mich. When doctrinal differences arose there, Pastor Loehe advised Pastors J. Deindorfer and G.H. Grossman to find a new location. They selected Iowa City, then the state capital, as their goal but when they arrived at Dubuque in the year 1853 they were persuaded to come to Clayton county because there were already a number of German colonists here and land was only $1.25 per acre.

They chose the spot north of Strawberry Point now the site of St. Sebald. George Andreae, a present member of the congregation still has in his possession the original letter they wrote back to Michigan describing the location as having everything they desired.

In the fall of 1853 the two men with 22 colonists from the Michigan colony returned to the area, established homes and organized St. Sebald congregation, which they named in honor of Saint Sebaldus, a missionary in the vicinity of Nuremberg, Germany. Church services were first conducted on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Synod Formed

The old Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa was organized at the unfinished parsonage on Aug. 24, 1854. This organization grew into a body with about 700 congregations in 1930 when it merged with two other Synods to form the present American Lutheran Church. From 1857 to 1874 Wartburg Theological Seminary, now at Dubuque, was located on a farm about two miles from the St. Sebald church, and the pastor served as president of the Seminary for a part of that time.

The Emanuel Congregation

The town of Strawberry Point was growing rapidly, and since many members of the congregation lived there, students at the Theological seminary conducted services for them. It was not until 1878, however, that 13 of these members organized the Emanuel congregation in Strawberry Point and called their own pastor, the Rev. E. Barkow. First services were held in a hall and then in the building of another denomination before the present building was erected in 1882 at a cost of $3000. The original building was 32X50 feet with a tower 85 feet high. In 1895 the bells were dedicated and soon thereafter the transepts and a chanceel were added to make room for the growing congregation. A pipe organ was installed in 1908 and the parsonage was built in 1917. In 1922 the church basement was enlarged and improved so that it could be used as a meeting place for the organizations.

In the past ten years many improvements have been made to the church property, including automatic oil heating systems for the church and parsonage, the church basement renovated, church kitchen modernized and the church redecorated. In commemoration of the 75th anniversary, a new pipe organ was installed at a cost of more than $8000. This year it was voted to purchase new pews and they are expected to be installed in August.

St. Sebald Church Erected in 1867

Going back to the mother congregation, the present church building at St. Sebald was erected in 1867. Prior to that time one building served as a parsonage and a church building with the church bell hung on a large oak tree. The present parsonage was erected in 1878 and modernized in the late 1930's.

In the 50th anniversary year of the church in 1903, the steeple, towering nearly 100 feet in the sky, was added and a large clear-toned bell weighing nearly a ton was hung in the spire. In 1928 a pipe organ was dedicated and in 1937 a wood buring furnace was installed replacing the old heating stoves. The church interior was finished with Nu-Wood in 1941 with funds left by a member of the congregation. It was on Christmas Eve in 1943 that electric lights were first used for an evening service in historic St. Sebald.

Preparations for celebrating the centennial were begun in 1951. The project was largely completed in 1952 at a total cost of more than $10,000. The entire building was raised 18 inches, the basement excavated, a new block wall laid up, water, modern kitchen, rest rooms and automatic oil heat installed. A new asphalt tile floor was laid in the nave of the church, a gift from the estate of Mr. and Mrs. John Wuest, one time members of the congregation.

Lead in Forming Churches

Members of the St. Sebald congregation were instrumental in forming the Lutheran congregations at Arlington and Volga as well as Emanuel at Strawberry Point, and were among the charter members at both places. Both congregations take an active part in community affairs. The float prepared by the St. Sebald congregation for the Strawberry Point centennial parade in 1953 won first prize and the one constructed by Emanuel members took third place. Both congregations have a Brotherhood, a Ladies Aid, Women's Missionary Society, Luther League, Junior Mission Band and a progressive educational program.

St. Sebald Lutheran church Rev. Herman Cronrath

Emanuel Lutheran church Rev. S.J. Meyer

Present pastors are Rev. S.J. Meyer at Emanuel and Rev. Herman Cronrath at St. Sebald.

The Rev. Meyer came to Strawberry Point in 1945 from Correctionville. He had also served a congregation at Brighton, Iowa, previous to that time. His father, the Rev. Conrad Meyer, also a pastor, served a congregation at Readlyn for many years. The Rev. Mayer's hobby is woodworking and he has made some beautiful peices of furniture for his home.

The Rev. Cronrath was installed at St. Sebald in January of this year, coming to Iowa from a parish at Genesee, Idaho. He was born at Kenosha, Wis., 55 years ago and has also served parishes at Manawa, Oshkosh and Oconto, Wis. and Colfax, Wash. He and Mrs. Cronrath have two sons in the Lutheran ministry; Luther at Chewelah, Wash., and Daniel, at Earlville, Ia.

~Oelwein Daily Register, 8/12/1955

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~photo sources:
1) small drawing or lithograph of St. Sebald at the top of the page is from 'Christian art in the place and in the form of Lutheran worship', by Paul E. Kretzmann, 1921, pg. 145
2) photo of St. Sebald church is from Flickr
3) photo of the German Lutheran church (Emanuel Lutheran), Strawberry Point is from the photo postcard collection of S. Ferrall
4) newspaper photos of Rev. Conrath, St. Sebald and Rev. Meyer, Emanuel Lutheran are from the Oelwein Daily Register, 8/12/1955

~articles transcribed by S. Ferrall for Clayton co. IAGenWeb

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