Last services at two rural churches

Zion Lutheran, St. John’s Lutheran close their doors

Two rural Lutheran churches in the town of Rib Falls held their last services on Sunday.

Both of the churches, Zion Lutheran and St. John’s Lutheran Church, belong to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and merged with nearby St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Marathon City, in August. It is expected that the approximately 150 members of the two closed churches will worship in Marathon City. Both the Zion Lutheran and St. John’s Lutheran congregations trace their roots back to the work of the Rev. A. F. Gebhard, who began ministering to early Rib Falls settlers in a blacksmith’s shop during the late 1860’s.

The church closures, according to members, are the result of declining Sunday attendance but mostly the inability to find a pastor. Members said there are 70 WELS churches without a full-time minister. Over the past two years, the Rev. Jon Hadler, pastor at St. Matthew’s Evangelical Church, has conducted services in the Rib Falls churches.

The mood at both of the final church services was somber, but not heartbro- ken.

“I’m sad about it,” said Sharon Ohde, town of Stettin, who cleaned the 1940’s vintage Zion Lutheran after services for years. “I was here for 75 years. I loved cleaning this church and would have continued to do it until the day I died. I have this certain pain in my hip. I think that has to be from moving sideways through the benches.”

Ohde, however, said she was ready for a new chapter in her spiritual life. “A new journey is going to start,” she said.

Eighty-nine-year old Shirley Uekert, who served 62 years as the organist at Zion Lutheran, said she was “not happy” about the church closing, but, seeing the end coming since the official August merger vote, added she was relieved to have played the organ for the last time in her church. “It’s finally over with,” she said. The Revs. Joel Pless and Terry Reich, both wearing offwhite robes with crimson sashes, shared the pulpit at the two churches’ closing services. They had served the two churches for 14 and 17 years, respectively.

As bright sunlight filtered through the violet and yellow colored windows at Zion Lutheran, Pless told the church members arranged in comfy, oak pews that “God has a timetable for all of them” and that, despite the “bittersweet” church closing, they would be alright. “All things work together for those who love God,” he said.

The Rev. Reich, who said his Rib Falls years were the “call of his lifetime,” said he treasured memories of children’s Christmas programs, funerals, marriages and baptisms. He said some parishioners were not always model Christians. “Some of you behaved badly, but you know who you are,” he said.

Reich, standing before a dark wooden altar with a statue of Jesus and a large brass cross, said the faith of the people of Zion Lutheran would endure no matter where they churched. “It is not the building that saves anyone,” he said. “It is Jesus.” He told people to be optimistic. “When you are a child of God, the best is yet to come,” he said.

The pews at St. John’s church were filled for the final service. The parking lot surrounding the 1919-era, highspired brick church on a hill overlooking Rib Falls was packed with cars and trucks.

The two ministers brought the same message to this second congregation, telling the church members that “the best is yet to come.”

The pastors spoke inside the church which has green and yellow stained glass windows and is covered inside with early 1900’s pressed tin. A statue of Jesus reaches out from a white painted altar with several flickering electric light candelabras. Above, in the top of the church’s sanctuary nave, is a painted blue sky dotted with white clouds.

The pastors emphasized the Christian message as an eternal truth. “If Pastor Pless was here forever but Jesus wasn’t, think of what a mess your soul would be in,” said the Rev. Reich.

The congregation sang a number of hymns accompanied by Carol Birkholz on the organ and Harold Schaurer playing the trumpet.

Following the final services, members of both Zion and St. John’s Lutheran churches had a celebratory luncheon at Rib River Ballroom, Marathon.

It is expected that both churches will be put up for sale.

History

Zion Lutheran Church started with a 14-member congregation that formed in 1872 and built a log church in 1879. The building was replaced with a brick church in 1908. The church was destroyed in a 1942 fire and replaced by the current church building completed in 1943.

The new church merged with Emmanuel Lutheran Church which, starting in 1892 with 17 members, built a wooden church destroyed by a windstorm in 1898. The church was replaced with a brick structure.

The St. John’s congregation formed in 1878 and conducted services in a wood-framed building. The church was replaced with the current larger brick structure dedicated in 1919.

The Rev. Terry Reich

LAST HUGS- The Revs. Terry Reich and Joel Pless greeted members of St. John’s Lutheran Church at the conclusion of Sunday’s closing worship ceremony.

Harold Schaurer plays the trumpet