Our Church History:
A Video of our 175 Year Anniversary can be found here.
St. Peter’s is a congregation deeply rooted in its traditional values and proud of its 173-year-old heritage. Rather than give up their religious heritage, our ancestors immigrated from East Germany to America. St. Peter’s continues to keep the priorities of their forefathers alive by continuing to maintain a Christian Day School which began in 1843 and provides quality education for the surrounding communities.
St. Peter’s has remained committed to making Christ known through many changes in culture and church affiliation going back to the old Buffalo Synod, the American Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Most recently the congregation decided to exchange the structures of denominational Lutheranism for the freedom of function offered by Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC).
The first service held in our current structure was on November 28, 1915. The sculpture of the Lord’s Supper from the original Church is still part of our current altar. Constant maintenance and renovations have been done over the years to maintain the Church’s beauty. In the early 1990s, a new entrance, elevator, meeting room, and restrooms were added to provide easier access to the building.
The current school building was dedicated in 1954. In 2001 a new wing was added to include eight new classrooms, office space, a meeting room, and restrooms. Although the school building itself has seen changes, one thing that has not changed is keeping religion classes most important in the curriculum. The school remains the biggest mission of the congregation to the community and the longest continuously operating Christian day school in the country.
Pastors of Saint Peter's
Pastor J.A.A. Grabau - Fall 1843-1844
Pastor Ehrenstroem - 1844-1845
Pastor Heinrich Von Rohr -1845-1854
Pastor H. Lange - 1854-1855
Pastor F.G. Zeumer - 1856-1865
Pastor J. W. Weinbach - 1865-1867
Pastor Von Rohr -1867-May 1874(Passed away)
Pastor C. Schadow -1876-1878
Pastor J.A.A. Grabau -1878-1885
Pastor J.N. Grabau-1885-1894
Pastor Herman Mackensen -1894-1905
Pastor Edward Grabau - 1905-1948
Pastor Martin Pempit -1948-1957
Pastor Donald Rehkopf - 1957-1966
Pastor Gerald Scheck - 1966-1970
Pastor Harold Baum - 1970-1976
Pastor Harold Wittenberg - 1976-1980
Pastor Herbert Maxwell - 1982-1993
Interim - Pastor R. Majeroni -1993-1995
Interim - Pastor Allen Griep -1993-1998
Pastor Bruce Gamache - 1998-2015
Missions Pastor - Jonathan Haseley - 2014-2018
Interim Pastor - Kenneth Spitler - 2015-2017
Interim Pastor Mark Perkins -August 2017-Sept 2017
Pastor Thomas Thorstad - September 2017 - Dec 2021
Visitation & Administration Pastor Paul Saya - January 2022- Oct 1, 2022
Pastor Kurt Jensen - October 1, 2022 to present