St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Estevan celebrated its centennial on Sunday afternoon with a special service, fellowship, food and plenty of reminiscing.
With the theme of 100 Years of Blessing, a crowd of 100 people attended the festivities. The service featured music, prayers, scripture readings, a sermon by Rev. David Haberstock, who is the regional minister for Lutheran Church Canada, and communion.
Then the focus shifted to the church’s fellowship hall for supper, birthday cake and messages from Pastor Randy Kleemola, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church board chair Reg Jahn and David Friesen from Lutheran Church Canada.
Denise Dougherty with St. Peter’s found it fitting that 100 people attended a 100th anniversary celebration. They had been expecting 80-90 people, but even with the snow and windy weather that day, a lot of people from out of town and some former congregation members were able to make it.
“They came back to celebrate with us. It was truly a success,” said Dougherty.
Many of the people who attended the celebration are part of families who have attended the church for five generations, providing a vital link to the church’s early years.
She cited the example of Jahn, whose great great grandfather was instrumental in bringing the church together. Reg Jahn’s grandson now attends St. Peter’s.
“To see that lineage of people continuing on in this church is amazing … and it’s a testament to their faith and to continually spreading the word of the gospel through St. Peter’s Lutheran Church here in Estevan,” said Dougherty.
She counted six families presently in the church who trace their roots to the church’s beginning.
There was also plenty of historical information on display, including photos, newspaper clippings and more.
A history of the church was printed in the bulletin for the special service. It noted that the church actually began in the fall of 1918, with a mission project that had services conducted in German. The first baptisms were held in 1918 as well.
A service in English occurred for the first time in 1920.
St. Peter’s first building was dedicated in June 1930 in the 100-block of Second Street. St. Peter’s moved to its present home, and it was dedicated in November 1964. An addition, which includes the current sanctuary and offices, was completed in September 2002.
Dougherty noted that she and another woman, Edna Irwin, took on the centennial event eight weeks ago, so they had a short timeframe to bring everything together. She was pleased with how everything went.
“We searched from corner to corner of the church to come up with that table … of all of the history, and then when you sit down and start to put it together, you realize that all of those generations are still here. It’s truly amazing,” said Dougherty.
There were a lot of long days needed to make the event happen, as they worked non-stop to let people know this was happening and to piece together the history. Dougherty also thanked Anne McLaughlin for her contributions.
All of the effort proved to be worthwhile.
“I think the most important thing was to celebrate the 100 years of blessing, to commemorate the 100 years of St. Peter’s and to thank God for these 100 years and ask him … to shower us with His blessings for 100 more.”
