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Pictures: First Lutheran Church and School-Note mud street & hitching post; Present Lutheran Church

ST. PAUL’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

       The town of Stanwood was six years old when the congregation of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was first organized. This was in 1875. The event took place in Mechanicsville, because at that time there were more people of Lutheran heritage in that area than there were in Stanwood. It was not until seventeen years later, namely in 1892, that the little Lutheran organization changed its meeting place to Stanwood. For the first few months its meetings were held in the public school building, but almost at once the present site was purchased and construction of the first permanent home of St. Paul’s congregation began. In the next year (1893) the building was completed and dedicated—entirely free of debt.

       Rev. J. H. Brammer, whose missionary efforts had brought about the organization, was the first pastor of St. Paul’s. He served in this capacity for fifteen years. At the time he resigned (1908) the congregation numbered about 100 souls.

       Beginning in 1908 and for the next thirty years the congregation of St. Paul’s church was under the efficient leadership of the Rev. W. G. Nagler. This was a period of noticeable growth and expansion. In 1913 a metal bell was installed and a new reed organ placed in the church. A small parochial school building was erected on the church premises, and for nine years, in addition to all of his other duties, Pastor Nagler served as the teacher of this school. The annual enrollment averaged ten students.

       As an item of Stanwood history, it is interesting to note that the old parochial school building can still be seen in the south end of town, now the home of Ed Koch.

       By 1920 the growing congregation had come to realize that the church edifice was inadequate for its needs. Accordingly, plans were made for a new, more modern church. Some months later the fine, large brick structure in which we now worship was completed. It was formally dedicated on April 10, 1921. It has a seating capacity of three hundred fifty in the nave and balcony, with a loudspeaker system enabling those in the basement to hear the service. One hundred more can be seated there.

       In 1939 Pastor Nagler was called to another charge and was followed in the Stanwood church by the Rev. E. F. Hempel. He served as shepherd of St. Paul’s congregation until ill health compelled him to resign in 1947. It was during the pastorate of Rev. Hempel that the “new” church, by this time twenty-five years old, was fully redecorated and a new Wicks pipe organ installed, replacing the reed instrument. This organ has been a significant addition to the beauty and effectiveness of the services of St. Paul’s.

       The present pastor, Rev. Reginald Muhl, was installed on December 5, 1954. The celebration of the eighty-fifth anniversary of the congregation was held in June of 1960 with former pastors E. Hempel and M. Geffert and the son of Pastor Nagler, Pastor Richard Nagler, as speakers and liturgists at the services. At this time the church had been redecorated and newly carpeted. In 1964 the congregation remodeled the parsonage adding a bedroom, bath and more space in the kitchen, at a cost double that of the original parsonage.

       In April, 1968, the first resident pastor, Rev. W. Nagler, was given Christian burial from the church he had built forty-eight years earlier.

       At present the congregation has a membership of two hundred seventy confirmed members (over thirteen years of age), a total of three hundred sixty souls.

       Pastor M. Muhl and wife have this past year observed their fortieth anniversary in the ministry and this December will mark the fifteenth year of their service at St. Paul’s in Stanwood, Iowa.