VGI Updates

St. Peter's Lutheran Church traces its beginning to a number of German immigrants who had settled about two miles south of the town of Cornelius, Oregon. The Rev. Edward Döring had been sent by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod to minister to the German settlers arriving in Oregon and he discovered this small group. He served as the first pastor of St. Peters while also serving the congregation of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in nearby Sherwood. On 7 May 1882, it was resolved to organize a congregation, and a constitution was adopted on 2 July 1882.

In 1906, Michael Borth helped build St. Paul's Lutheran Church on the David Sell homestead south of Shattuck. The church was dedicated 11 March 1906. The church cemetery is across the road to the east of the church.
Today, there is no church building located in the country. The congregation is part of Christ Lutheran Church in Shattuck.

Christ Lutheran Church was founded on 5 March 1905 under the leadership of Pastor Henry Asmus Marxen of Enid, Oklahoma. His brother, James Nicolaus Marxen, came to serve the congregation later that year. The cornerstone for the original church building was laid on 9 October 1905 southwest of Shattuck. It was dedicated on 11 March 1906.

The Rev. Conrad Bechtold, a traveling pastor affiliated with the German Evangelical Synod of North America, arrived at Kiel, Oklahoma, in 1894 to serve the Germans-speaking people of the community. The following year, the Kirche der Deutschen Evangelischen Friedens Gemeinde (Church of the German Evangelical Peace Congregation) was organized.

Emmaus Lutheran Church's history is traced back to 1899 when services were held near Ottokee, north of Wauseon. In 1911, the mission congregation began holding services in Wauseon, meeting in members homes, City Hall, and other church buildings. The congregation of Emmaus German Evangelical Lutheran Church was official organized on 16 November 1913.

Land was purchased for a church on 11 February 1898. St. Peter Lutheran Church was incorporated on 5 June 1901 by Volga German immigrants from Yagodnaya Polyana who had settled nearby Pine Island.

In 1912, some members left St. Peter's to form St. Paul Congregational Church and built a new building about half a mile away on Little Brooklyn Road.

The orignal St. Peter's church building burned down on Christmas Eve of 1917 and the present edifice was erected in 1918. A large fellowship hall and Sunday School rooms were added in 1968.

In 1901, St. Peter Lutheran Church was formed by the Volga Germans who settled in the area. In 1912, a group of members from St. Peter's desired a more Bible-based faith practice, and split to form St. Paul Congregational Church. It was located just a half mile south of St. Peter's on Little Brooklyn Road.

The German Reformed Church in Sutton was organized by Volga German immigrants on 20 February 1877 under the leadership of the Rev. William Bonekeeper. Its original church building was constructed in 1879, but that building was destroyed and a similar structure erected on the same location.

Emmanuel is affiliated with the Reformed Church in the U.S.

Location:

110 S. Way Ave.
Sutton, NE 68979-2130
402.773.4218

Zion Evangelical Church in Scottsbluff was founded by Volga German families in 1914.

Location

Location:

2001 7th Ave.
Scottsbluff, NE 69361
308.632.4748

History:

Salem Congregational Church was founded in Scottsbluff in 1928 by Volga German families.