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St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church was officially organized on September 22, 1901; but the congregation actually began meeting in 1898. That year Pastor J. D. Schroeder of Zion Lutheran in Worms, NE, traveled to Palmer and held services on Sunday afternoons at the Church of Christ. In 1903, Pastor Schroeder accepted a call to Wisconsin, so his successor in Worms, Pastor K. Jahn, served the members of St. John's.
The first church building was constructed in 1907. It was a white wooden structure measuring 24x32. This served as our house of worship for 42 years until the new church was built in 1949. Then the original building was sold to the Nazarenes and moved to another location in town.
Pastor William Ludwig of Worms succeede Pastor Jahn in January 1909. In October, Martin Jung was installed as our first resident pastor. A parsonage was built for him in 1911. this home has been enlarged and remodeled many times; most recently with an addition that also included an attached garage.
In 1919, the congregation decided to hire a teacher to relieve Pastor Jung of that duty. the first teacher in our Christian Day School was Louis Fischer. He taught here until 1925, then moved to Hastings. A sparate school building was erected behind the church in 1926. Other teachers in our school were: Blanche Lueders, Dorothy Sommer, Clara Mullenhoff, Walter Guenther, Ida Wolter, and Olga Brase. The school closed because of hard times during the depression in 1933.
Pastor Jung stayed in Palmer until 1922, when he accepted a call to Martinsburg, NE. His successor was Pastor Hugo Degner, who was here for two years.
In March 1925, Pastor Bruno Holm was installed and served until November, 1942. At that time he was appointed and commissioned to be a chaplain in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Theo Droegemueller was pastor from 1943-1953. It was an eventful period. In 1946 we released 28 member to organize Christ Lutheran Church in St. Paul, NE. Our new brick church building was constructed and dedicated in 1949. And our fiftieth anniversary was celebrated on September 16, 1951.
Karl H. Tiemann became the new pastor in 1954, and served until his retirement in March 1966. then Pastor D. A. McCollough came to St. John's and stayed until 1969.
Pastor Robert Fitzpatrick began his ministry in 1970. During his time in Palmer, the Fellowship Hall was added. It was built in 1976, and included three classrooms, a kitchen, restrooms and an office. In 1980, he accepted a call to North Olmsted, Ohio.
Christopher Brandt became pastor in 1981 and served the congregation until 1984, when he moved to Little Rock Arkansas.
Pastor Robert Alexander was installed in 1985. To celebrate Palmer's centennial, we had a float in the Fall Festival Parade and a Mission Festival in 1987. Pastor Alexander accepted a call to Galva, Iowa in 1992.
In 1993, Wade Harr became our pastor, staying until 1997, when he moved to South Dakota.
In December of 1997, Pastor Robert Schilling and his family arrived in Palmer, and Pastor Schilling was installed as our pastor. On September 16, 2001 we celebrated our 100th anniversary. Pastor Schilling continues to serve us very well. |
