St. Paul's Lutheran Church celebrates 100 years

St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Sidney is celebrating 100 years of service.

According to Pastor Brad Heinecke, the church was founded in 1915 when Lutherans from Missouri moved in to the region northwest of Sidney and north of Potter, Neb. A formal organization of the Potter and Sidney locals was effected on July 11, 1915, at which time the name St. Paul's was chosen and a constitution was adopted and signed.

"Trinity South Divide, that is about nine miles south of here was kind of the mother congregation, but a number of Lutherans were in the area and the church developed from that," Heinecke said. "It's been a strong Lutheran church and presence in the area for a long time."

With about 275 members, Heinecke said the congregation has continued to bring in young families whose children are enrolled at at the St. Paul's Lutheran Pre-School located on 15th Avenue.

"We are always welcome to new members. I would be glad to speak with any new members of the community who are interested in attending for worship," Heinecke said. "The biggest way we have gotten people involved or made contact with new people is through the pre-school."

The pre-school has given the church the opportunity to reach out to locals who aren't members of the church as well as to prepare the students for a lifetime of of joyful learning.

"Our pre-school is very different from other schools," he said. "We follow classical education. It's more about what education was a long time back. For example we put a strong emphasis on memorization, discipline, learning. Grammar, logic and rhetoric are the foundation for what is being taught."

The church's involvement throughout the community is something Heinecke said the congregation has been working on over the years.

"We look for opportunities of doing things like an outdoor service and inviting the community or being involved in things like 'Taste of Sidney,' just small events that allow people to see us and be able to talk to people," Heinecke said. "There's nothing big that we are doing, it's more just trying to get people to see the opportunities we offer such as vacation Bible school and Sunday school. Evangelism to me works best when each individual member is involved by inviting friends and family to come and worship with us."

The church's big celebration was held at the end of June. The son of the congregation Alan Borcher came back to preach for the celebration. Previous pastors will come back for services throughout the year to help commemorate the church.

"We had an afternoon service as well as a dinner for those who helped celebrate," he said. "It's not just the one day of festivities, but we will highlight a few things throughout the year in celebration of the 100 years. It's really a year-long celebration."

The church has Sunday worship service at 9 a.m. located at 1424 Maple St., and Sunday school at the education building at 10:30 a.m for all ages.