“I was confirmed at the altar of this church 70 years ago,” said Pauline Campbell, a member of the congregation of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Riverside Heights. This Sunday, July 17, at 2 p.m., St. John’s will hold a service of leave-taking before it closes its doors forever.
“I wish the church would stay open,” Campbell said. “I know that is not possible. But I have done a lot of crying.”
The resolve to close the church, whose history in the community stretches back over 200 years, was not lightly arrived at. It was, as parishioner Margaret Weegar put it, “a very difficult decision for us all. We had talked about it for a while, but in 2015, we had to decide. It was, to be blunt, a matter of old age and cash. There is just no money any more, and ours is a mostly senior congregation.
The church roof leaks now and we can’t afford to repair it. Our heating bills are very high. We had to accept that we could not maintain the building any longer and the decision to close had to be made.”
The church building, all the church property and the cemetery which lies behind the sanctuary will be turned over to the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Church in Canada, which will assume responsibility for the site after July 17. The Synod plans to establish a board of trustees locally to handle necessary decisions, under the guidance of Rev. Gunther Dahle from Synod.
A group of long-time parishioners gathered at the church on Monday, July 11, to prepare for this Sunday, a day when many former members of the congregation will “come home” to say good-bye.
Delivering the message at the leave-taking service will be Bishop Michael Pryse, who will be assisted by St. John’s pastor, Rev. Jo Barkley-Probst.
Russell Schwerdtfeger, 91, has been a member of St. John’s since his confirmation 85 years ago. Margaret Weegar was a member of the 1959 confirmation class. Pauline Campbell was confirmed by Rev. F. L. Howald 70 years ago, while Ralph Marcellus became part of the congregation in 1939. Bessie Salmon, whose family were Lutherans from Czechoslovakia, who came to Canada in 1942, remembered attending St. John’s, where she was confirmed, married and brought up her children over 50 years.
These church “family members” recalled the history of St. John’s, which has actually been on its present site in Riverside Heights only since the current building was constructed there as part of the Seaway project. “It was thrown together in a hurry,” Ralph Marcellus said. “Fuel oil then was $.19 a gallon, and the insulation was hollow blocks.”
The first St. John’s was built over 232 years ago in what was then Williamsburg Township. The first pastor was Johann Samuel Schwerdtfeger, born in Bavaria, who came to settle in New York State in 1753. However, his loyalty to the Crown during the American War of Independence forced him out of the States, and he came to Canada permanently in 1791.
The first frame church was constructed under his leadership.
A brick church eventually replaced the frame one at the side of the St. Lawrence. The original Lutheran manse, situated in Morrisburg, was eventually moved to Upper Canada Village, where it is now preserved as a heritage building.
Russell and Ralph recalled heating pipes hanging from the ceiling, and an old wooden stove in the basement of the brick building. “But there were a lot of happy times in the church,” Marcellus said. “There were strawberry socials and chicken suppers, and plenty of pot luck gatherings.” There were special celebrations and many family events.
Everyone remembered the candlelight services at both the old church and the new St. John’s in Riverside Heights that were a treasured part of Christmas Eve.
Russell Schwerdtfeger is a direct descendant of Pastor Johann (John) Schwerdtfeger: five generations of his family have attended St. John’s. Many of his family rest in the cemetery outside the church. “All of Pastor John’s descendants became farmers,” Schwerdtfeger said. “No preachers at all since him in our family.” (“You missed your calling, Russell,” Marcellus remarked to laughter.).
The St. Lawrence Seaway Project created a significant change in the life of St. John’s congregation. The old brick church had to be demolished. And in 1965, Hydro also moved 135 graves from Willard’s Cemetery to St. John’s.
The congregation chose to have their new church, constructed by Hydro, in Riverside Heights. This building was dedicated in December of 1958: Rev. Howald was the first to lead regular services there. The Memorial Windows, the altar painting, the swan atop the steeple, the church bell, the religious relics and communion ware preserved from the old church are all still at the present St. John’s.
However, as Margaret Weegar explained, “this has never been a huge congregation. Maybe 40 families, possible 100 people at a service was normal. But the Seaway construction meant that some of those families left, or had to move away when their land was taken. We have objects and memorial gifts in the church that were given by families not even around any more.”
The closing of St. John’s will be the end of a long Lutheran heritage in the area. Sunday, July 17, at 2 p.m., those who grew up in the church, whose families may have attended the old church or the new one, anyone who has memories of St. John’s, all are invited to “come home” for the Leave Taking.
There will be a reception in the church hall afterward, and a chance to share those memories, and “some tears, I think,” added Campbell.
“We are sad,” Bessie Salmon wrote. “We will still go to another Lutheran church. But I’m sure there are more families with a history who will remember this church.”
“We had a church for 232 years,” said Ralph Marcellus. “That’s a lot longer than a lot of congregations.”
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