Church History

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="b77506d0.jpg" border=0 width="80" height="109" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>St. John's UCC</B></div> <div> 606 N. 5th St.</div> <div> Vincennes, IN 47591</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Johns United Church of Christ"><U>Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="meet_our_pastor.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet Our Pastor"><U>Meet Our Pastor</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="calendar.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Monthly Calendar"><U>Calendar</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="newsletter.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newsletter"><U>Newsletter</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="about_our_church.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Our Church"><U>About Our Church</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mission_outreach.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mission/Outreach"><U>Mission/Outreach</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="music.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Music Ministry"><U>Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="education.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Education"><U>Education</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="fellowship.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fellowship"><U>Fellowship</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="committees.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Committees Specific information"><U>Committees</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="what_we_believe.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What We Believe"><U>What We Believe</U></A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dcffffff00.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Church History</B></div> <div> <A HREF="contact_staff.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact/Staff"><U>Contact/Staff</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="photo_albums.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" St. Johns UCC Photo Gallery"><U>Photo Albums</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="preschool.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preschool"><U>Preschool</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <I><B>St. John's United Church of Christ History </B></I></div> <div> <B>A slightly different version of this article appears in the </B><I><B>Knox County History</B></I><B>, 1st Edition, edited by Maxine Batman.</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="1aa3013a0.jpg" border=0 width="257" height="314" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="7" VSPACE="0">St. John's is named in honor of St. John, disciple of Christ and author of the Gospel of John. </div> <bR> <div> Our story begins in August 1849 when some German Protestant residents in the community learned that the Rev. C. Tomson was in town. They prevailed upon him to conduct the first worship service in Vincennes in their native tongue. A second service started in September, and the German Evangelical Protestant Church of Vincennes was organized. In 1853, the congregation adopted the first constitution and assumed the name of German Evangelical St. John's Church.</div> <bR> <div> In 1854, the building of a house of worship began when the congregation received a gift of two lots in Cochran Addition at Eighth and Scott Streets. Unfortunately, funds ran short and the new building was unfinished. However, the English churches in the community came to the rescue: a fund-raising supper was held which collected $450. That sum was sufficient to complete the work, and the church was dedicated by Rev. Cornbaum in May 1856, according to the Lutheran Ritual. This started a period of strife which went unresolved until the Lutherans bought the Evangelicals' share for $750. The Evangelicals bought property on Fifth Street between Hart and Shelby Streets. A little frame church was built at the corner of Fifth and Hart and dedicated on the second Sunday of Advent, 1863.</div> <bR> <div> The first parsonage was built on the Fifth Street property, and it served the pastors' families for about 35 years. It was later moved to 609 N. Fourth Street. During this same time the church operated a parochial school. At first the school met in the rooms at the rear of the church building. Later a separate schoolhouse was built on land purchased in July 1880. </div> <bR> <div> The church now owned all of the frontage in the block between Hart and Shelby Streets on North Fifth St. Discussion began on the topic of expanding the present building or erecting a new building. Early in 1886, the decision was made to build a new church. The cornerstone of the new church was laid on June 25, 1886. A special train of six cars, loaded with people, came in from Evansville, Haubstadt and Princeton to cheer the building of the new church, which cost $9,000 when completed. A new pipe organ was also installed at a cost of $2,000. A new parsonage was constructed at the corner of Fifth and Hart a few years later.</div> <bR> <div> At the annual meeting in January 1903, two families announced their gift of an educational building as a memorial to their sons. Memorial Hall was dedicated on April 10, 1904. In 1922, seeing the need for enlarging and modernizing the building, the two families made another generous gift. </div> <bR> <div> In the next two decades, St. John's experienced both a split and a merger. Dissension in the church surfaced in 1932 that was not able to be resolved. This resulted in a split at which time St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Vincennes was organized. While the local church was growing in number of members and buildings, its ties to the wider church were also growing. The church was organized in the Evangelical Synod until 1934. At that time a union was perfected between the Evangelical Synod of North America and the Reformed Church in the United States, and the church became St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church. </div> <bR> <div> The Zion Evangelical Church of Johnson Township closed its doors, and members joined the St. John's congregation in 1941. Rev. Carl Scherzer received new members, and the church board of St. John's assumed responsibility for the perpetual care of Zion Cemetery. In 1957, Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Church denominations joined and became the United Church of Christ denomination. Also in 1957, a building project was undertaken that connected the church with Memorial Hall. Two years later, the old parsonage was razed and a more modern one built. In 1958, the Rev. Dave Lennington and his wife were commissioned as missionaries to Africa by the St. John's congregation. After their tour was over, the congregation began assisting Dr. Joyce Baker with her work in Honduras. </div> <bR> <div> 1998 saw the donation of a member's home to be used as the new parsonage, allowing for the old parsonage to be renovated into much needed office space and classrooms. In late 1998, another building project took place, adding an additional room that would connect Memorial Hall with the parsonage. It was finished in early 1999 and dedicated "The Sonshine Room." In 1999, St. John's United Church of Christ celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary with a 6 month community-wide celebration honoring the church's continued commitment to mission giving and involvement in benevolent causes throughout the community.</div> <bR> <div> In the past few years, we've seen many exciting changes: an upstairs renovation...a new rotational Sunday School program for grades K-7...an expanded church website...a partnership with St. Paul's Lutheran Church for Jr. High and Sr. High Youth Groups...a new adult Sunday School class...a new weekly prayer group...a new weekly community "Life After Meth" women's meeting...a new monthly reading group...a new church directory...a new  Girl Scout troop...a new sound system...a new choir director...a new weekly K-5 after-school program...a new weekly Bible Study for adults...a schedule of Merom retreats for women, men, and more...a successful faith commitment campaign...a new Visioning committee...and much more, while still continuing our existing outreach and fellowship activities.  </div> <bR> <div> A new senior pastor, Dr. Rev. Kate Lambertson arrived in 2005 with a dynamic vision and energy. Rev. George Varns, our beloved Associate Pastor, has retired and now enjoys the title of Pastor Emeritus. However, he and Ruth are still quite active in the church, serve on several committees, and are planning to go on the Greece trip. </div> <bR> <div> The members of St. John's United Church of Christ have always been firm believers in the saying "to whom much is given, much is expected," and as the years pass, St. John's will endeavor to be in the forefront of community activism and strive to help those around them. </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>