The History of Zion Lutheran Church - 1888

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     As the city grew, various religious denominations built church buildings. In 1886,  the  Swedish Lutheran people built their first church in the city (now known as Emanuel Lutheran). There were several families of the English Lutheran faith who had moved to Hutchinson from Newville, Pennsylvania and also from the area of  Waterville, Kansas who were desirous of having their own church.

     Milton H. Wagner was one of those Lutherans who wished to start a Lutheran Church. It was through his contact with the Board of Home Missions, that the English Lutheran Church of Hutchinson was born. In 1887, Rev. J.N. Lanker visited with interested brethren. Proceedings moved slowly, so he returned again in the fall of 1888. Through this visit, a congregation was formed. He helped procure a deed to purchase Lot Nos. 69 and 71 on the south side of West First St., at the West end of the 200 block.

     The creek ran along the back of these lots and as it turned out, was detrimental to the building of the church. Mr. Wagner continued efforts to keep the congregation alive and moving forward with the planning for the new church building. At times, it seemed to be quite hopeless but Mr. Wagner persisted and the church building began to be a reality.

     In the meantime, the first meetings were held in the Universalist Church building on Sunday afternoons. A short time later the group moved its meetings to the Y.M.C.A.

Rev. S.B. Bannitz, Secretary of the Board of Home Missions, visited on August 5, 1888. He held morning and evening services, while encouraging the people to establish a Lutheran Church. Up to this point they had held meetings but nothing had been done to organize a church. 

     Rev. Bannitz asked Rev. A.J. Lowe of  Waterville, Kansas to visit Hutchinson with the understanding that he would accept a call to the congregation and start building the new church.

    Rev. Lowe spent Sunday, August 26, 1888 in Hutchinson holding church services, both in the afternoon and evening. It was a miserable rainy day and the meetings were not what he expected. The few faithful people who attended asked the board to commission Rev. Lowe to be their pastor and take over the congregation. The board made the appointment October 1, 1888 and Rev. Lowe began to serve as the first pastor of the new Lutheran church.

     On December 2, 1888, the first meeting of the new organization was held at the pastor’s home, 428 West First St. A constitution was adopted and the charter members enrolled. They were:

George   Brehm

*L.F. Landis

Lucetta Brehm 

*Pastor Lowe

Gottleib   Buetner

*Mrs. A.E. Lowe

 John Buettner

*J. F. H. Plate

*Wm. H. Heberlig

 *Mrs. J.F.H. Plate

*Mrs. Wm. Heberlig

*Milton H. Wagner

 John Kunz

*Miss S.E. Wertz

George   M. Koontz

 *Louis Wisler

Mrs.   Emma Kunz

*Mrs. Louis Wisler

 J.H. Landis

*Wm. Foltz

*Mary Landis

 *Mary M. Heberlig

*Martha E. Heberlig

Mrs. M.K. Buettner

     The construction of the new church building was started. It was a big event when the cornerstone was laid.  The cornerstone of the church was laid at First Avenue & Jefferson. on Dec. 8th, 1889” at a cost of $3,253. (To-day the members of Zion's Lutheran church will lay the corner stone of their new church, which is to be built on Second avenue west. (Incorrect Address) The ceremonies are announced for 3 o'clock. Addresses of ten minutes each will be delivered by several of the pastors in the city and by Rev. F. D. Altman of Emporia. Appropriate ceremonies will be conducted by the pastor and the trustees of the church.) Hutchinson News, 1889 12/8 pg. 5 C5

     Several dignitaries of the Church and several pastors from other churches in the city gave speeches and in the cornerstone was placed a Bible, hymnal, Conrad’s Lutheran Catechism, copies of several Lutheran magazines and several Hutchinson newspapers.

     The construction of the building progressed slowly during the winter months but as the warm weather of spring came, the building began to take shape quickly. The new church was dedicated May 25, 1889, even though there was some interior work left unfinished due to lack of funds.

Rev. Lowe remained as pastor of the church until December of 1890. Only a short time had passed until it became impossible to hold church services when the creek across the back of the lots was out of its banks.  Finally, a suitable location was found on the northwest corner of Fifth and Main. The congregation approved this location ....for the $1,400 to purchase the two fifth and main lots.  

     As the church grew during this period and underwent some much needed expansion and re-modeling the church felt it needed to expand. In 1920 the church decided to enlarge it holdings. “The old frame building which for more than ten years served as the home for No. 2 fire station was sold today by the city commission to the Zion Lutheran church for $200.             Soon after, the Stamey Hotel Corp. offered $25,000 for the Fifth & Washington site and “…it was determined to sell & build a new church on the 11th & Washington property.” Construction began in 1922 and was completed by 1923, being dedicated on June 17th."

     "The war".  The Sunday school grew from 17 members to about 80.  A vested choir was formed and robes for the pastor were secured. The altar and chancel platforms were built by the pastor and in his spare time, he put out a weekly church newspaper.

     The new church was completed in 1923 at the cost of $39,712.98.   Plans for the church, on file at the Mann & Co. Architect, read as follows:

General Contract

     $21,155.00

 Heating Plant

     $2,890.00

 Furniture

     $1,900.00

 Hardware and Lights

     $300.00

 14 Glass

     $1,400.00

 Architect’s Fee

     $1,400.00

 Bondsman Fee

     $3,000.00

(When Rev. Nelson left Zion in 1923, only $2,870.00 remained outstanding on the building debt.)

     Mrs. Robinson, wife of Rev. Robinson, who had been serving Zion as organist, became ill, and the council approached Margaret Wells to ask her to consider becoming the new organist. This she did for the next 45 years, being on the payroll longer than any other person and earning $5.00 per month for a great share of that time. She played the first organ the Luther League purchased, which was an old organ made up of wood and wire held together with a lot of glue. The roof over the organ was continually leaking and many times would be almost impossible to play until someone would crawl up and loosen the air valves.

     Even though Rev. Robinson was well liked and doing a good job of rebuilding the church, he was not able to lead the church out of its financial indebtedness. In spite of the protests of the congregation, the Board moved Pastor Robinson to Sioux City, Iowa in May, 1939.

     In August of that year, the church called Rev. Eugene Harrison to be the 14th pastor of Zion. His first council meeting was October 11, 1939.

     Although the Synod paid the pastor’s salary for some time so the church could make substantial payments on the loans, an extra “Amortization Envelope” was placed in each offering envelope package. On each envelope was printed “As you must know, we owe $5,000.00 on our church”.

     The church began to grow in membership, drawing many of its new members from the establishment of the Hutchinson Naval Air Base in 1941. After paying $1, 390.00, the mortgage on the parsonage was burned in January of 1943. At that time, $6.382.88 was still owed on the church mortgage.

     In February of 1945, the mortgage on the church was burned and in March of that year, general renovations were made to both the inside and outside of the church at the cost of $912.00.

     In 1946, with the help of the women, a white surplus for the pastor and various paraments for the church were purchased. 

     Besides making substantial payments towards the debt, a new pipe organ was purchased for $3,865.00 and dedicated on February 19, 1947. This new organ was dedicated to Luther Massey and Homer Nicklin, sons of Zion, who lost their lives in Service to their country. A bronze plaque is attached to the side of the organ in their memory.

     Pastor Robert (Bob) Albin, who was filling in as pulpit supply occasionally, received a call to join Zion in 1993. During his 12 years with Zion, Pastor Bob was the motivating force behind the new construction to the South end of the church in 2002, providing easier building access, an elevator to three floors & adding new office space with a conference room. It was also his undertaking to have the altar renovated and updated in order to bring the altar rail down to floor level so as to better serve our senior members. In order to provide for the new addition the old and decaying parsonage was removed allowing for a paved parking area to be installed. New carpeting was laid. There were many renovations both inside and out. The new Youth Group was formed. The Fundraising Committee was formed and charged with raising monies to repair and refurbish the stained glass windows. In a ceremony conducted by Pastor Albin, the new addition mortgage was burned in 2005. Pastor Bob left Zion in 2005 having accomplished much. 

     Much of the history of ZION’s Congregation has been written only in the hearts of her members: their devotion to God, their sacrificial service, their vision for a spiritual heritage to be passed on to their children. Some of her history has been written in the hearts of those shepherds of the flock; her faithful pastors, who also through God's grace led His people. Undoubtedly, there were sacrifices on the part of people and pastors alike. But our Church of today stands as a living monument to the early pioneers and settlers, who were motivated by the love of Christ. It has been an honor & a privilege for Norma Hartung and myself to have been a part of bringing back to life the many memories, stories and history of Zion. The many hours we spent together will be remembered fondly by each of us and knowing that we have left behind a work that will become a new part of Zion’s past and a means for future generations to learn where Zion came from and WHO WE ARE as congregation has been a gratifying experience. “May the remembrance of divine blessings in the past be a mighty incentive for greater zeal on the part of all members of ZION’S Congregation.” And may God Bless each of us as God has blessed Zion; the little church with the “friendly reputation ”.