St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Marshfield, WI

The history oy St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Town of McMillan, Wisconsin, Begins before the date of December 15,1880, but it was on that date that the congregation was officially organized. The members of this community were served the Word of God by a traveling missionary by the name of John Schuette. It was under his guidance and leadership that the congregation was formed on the above date. Pastor Schuette continued to serve the congregation, but also served in other communities.
Despite the great amount of work which the members had at hand in clearing our timberlands for their own farms and dwellings, they succeeded in constructing a House of God for their congregation within a year after their organization. This building was made of logs and measured 25' x 35' and it served the group for a period of 22 years. It served as a church and school until 1894 when the present church, with its 100 foot spire, was constructed and afer that period the old log building served as a school for nine years until it was torn down in 1903 to make room for a new school building. This latter school building served as a school until 1919 when the school was discontinued. After that time the school building served as a gathering place for parish activities until the present Parish Hall was built in 1951.
The first church council elected at the time of organization included: John Luchterhand-chairman; Gustav Schilling-secretary; Fred Bilgrien-treasurer; Fred Brandt and Louis Zimmerling-elders; Carl Schilling, Albert Grewing and August Zimmerling, trustees.
The congregation was served by non-resident pastors for the first 19 years of its history. Among those serving during this period were: Pastor J. Schuette, Pastor F. Heinke and Pastor F. Reichmann all of whom were traveling missionaries. Later Pastor Thom, who was pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Marshfield, served this congregation in addition to the Marshfield Church, for 13 years.
It was during this time that the congregation also had a resident teacher whose name was Peter Mees. Later Mr. Mees also managed a retail store in Marshfield where he dealt in "notions and confectionaries." Mr. Mees resigned together with Pastor Thom in 1899.
In 1899 the congregation called its first resident pastor, the Rev. Theodore Engel, who remained with the congregation until 1902. It was during this time that our sister congregation Emmanuel Lutheran Church, March Rapids, became organized in 1899. In 1900 the present parsonage was built.
"Before we lived in McMillan,we were at Nasonville, about 10 miles on the other side of Marshfield, and Progress was again, about 15 miles south of Nasonville. Both places were countrysides, and had no town. The two congregations at that time, belonged to the Iowa Synod. Rev. Thom at this time,got my husband to join the Wisconsin Synod, and got him to take over the McMillan Church. It was such a nice congregation and was wonderful for us, after what we had been through for several years." This is what Mrs. Martin Bunge had to say of our congregation in 1976.
Rev. Martin Bunge served our congregation from 1902 to 1907. In 1904 the bell was hung in the tower of the church.
The Rev. August Paetz was the next pastor. He served the congregation for the longest period of time in its history, from 1907 - 1927.
In 1917 electricity was installed in the parsonage and church, the church was enlarged by the addition of the chancel. In 1921 a pipe organ was also installed. It still serves us today. Also, an addition to the parsonage was built in 1911.
The Rev. Walter Gutzke served the congregation from 1927 - 1935. The Rev. Carl J. Bast served from 1935 -1947. During the time of Rev. Bast, the inside of the church was completely redecorated. In 1936 the old barn was replaced by a garage.
The Rev. D. H. Kuehl served here from 1947 - 1954. While Pastor Kuehl was here, the inside of the church was completely renovated with the application of celotex panels, the present Parish Hall was built in 1951, and the old school house was removed.
The Rev. Alfred Pautsch served from 1954 -1961. In 1960, the chancel was renovated and redecorated. The pipe organ was moved to the balcony of the church and completely rebuilt and electrified. In 1960, the front addition was added to the church. The purpose of the addition was to provide a cloak room and a room to accommodate mothers and young children during services.
The Rev. Edward A. Schaewe served from 1962 -1967.
The Rev. Kent E. Schroder served from 1967 - 1971. In 1972, Pastor Walter J. Koepsell came and retired from the ministry while serving at St. Peter's. He retired August 31, 1980.
In the fall of 1975, it was decided to remove the old garage and a new two car garage was built.
In 1976, the congregation decided that something had to be done to the pipe organ because of multiple complications that were occuring. Mr. Lawrence Marowski, one of our Synod's Parochial School Teachers, was consulted because of his knowledged in rebuilding pipe organs. The congregation decided to accept his proposal to rebuild the organ adding 121 pipes and another keyboard. The front of the pipes was redecorated in a gothic design to compliment the rest of the church's decoration. The dedication of the rebuilt and expanded organ was held on October 16, 1977.