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St. John’s United Church of Christ

    St. John’s United Church of Christ has come of age and grown wise in the period of time between the Clarence Centennial and our Quasquicentennial. Twenty-three years after the town’s beginning, St. John’s Evangelical Church came into being at the urging of Pastor John Schwartz, minister of Zion Church in Lowden, doing his missionary calling among people of similar ethnic and religious backgrounds. Thus, on November 5th, 1882, St. John’s began its existence and, shortly, assured itself and others that it would survive. After meeting in rented facilities, for a period of eight years, the first of three church buildings was erected on the same site occupied by the present church.

    The 766 member congregation erected and equipped the present new building in 1972, replete with educational rooms, fellowship hall, fireside chapel, library, pastor’s study, secretarial office, kitchen facilities and the worship center. The corporate ministry of St. John’s is attested to by the large and varied number of church organizations carrying on our ministries near and far. We are pleased to occasionally hear numbers, from an album recorded by the Adult Choir, used by radio stations in this area.

    We have been blessed with excellent ordained ministry serving our congregation. Nine men can share the joy of our growth in all facets of church life for the 102 years of our existence in Clarence. Reverend Edward J. Bowers, here at the time of our town’s Centennial and for two additional years, was followed by the Reverend C. W. Ebbert with a term of five years. The longest pastorate recorded in our congregation’s history was the 23 years served by the late Reverend Karl Fauth. Records are made to be broken; may it be so! Pastor Calvin Schumacher was called to the pulpit of St. John’s in 1966 to the present.