St. Paul’s gears up for sesquicentennial

December 18, 2009 By: Kaite Edmonds ObserverXtra

The congregation and staff at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elmira are working months in advance to prepare for their 150th anniversary celebrations coming up next October, and to start the celebrations off right they are publishing a calendar of photos chronicling their history.

“We dug up some photos from the old archives that we have over at the church,” said longtime member Dennis Bowman. “I think people who visit our church, or who are even just interested in the history of our area, will find this really neat.”

St. Paul’s came into being in 1860 when some German settlers to the area chose to organize a congregation with services in their native language. After meeting in a schoolhouse for a few years, the congregation erected its first house of worship in 1863. The present structure on Mill Street in Elmira was built in 1889, with an education wing added in 1963. Additional renovations followed in 1982, and new washrooms and an elevator were constructed in 2008.

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