| Dallas County IAGenWeb |
| History of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1964 |
| The history of St. Paul's Congregation dates back to the first
resident pastor of St. Peter's Church of Grimes, the Rev. Schneider, who
served from 1889-1893. During this time services were conducted once a
month in a school house west of Bouton. In 1893 Pastor Hansen succeeded
Pastor Schneider and again services were conducted once each month. During this pastorate St. Paul's (formerly Christ's) Congregation was organized and a constitution was adopted on June 1, 1895 with 16 charter members signing the Constitution. Many of our present members are direct descendants. In 1895 Pastor Schoenlein, of North Dakota accepted the call and he continued serving Bouton once a month. It was February 11, 1911, the congregation purchased a school house and a committee chose a suitable lot in Bouton and soon the building was converted into a church, and was dedicated five months later on July 23, 1911, with Pastor Schoenlein conducting services. Church services were held in this church for 18 years or until 1929, Pastor Schoenlein serving our church for almost 30 years, leaving in 1924. In December 1924 Pastor F. Bunge was installed in St. Peter's Church in Grimes. He too served once a month for a while and later services were conducted twice a month. During this pastorate, due to increased membership it was necessary to purchase a larger building, this being a former Methodist church in Bouton which was completely equipped, this was used for 12 years until July 1941. In 1933 Pastor G. F. Dirks Succeeded Pastor Bunge serving Bouton twice a month until November 1939. This year services were held in Bouton every Sunday under the leadership of Pastor F. S. Voss. The congregation continued its growth and with much cooperation and God's guidance on December 7th, 1941 our new St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Bouton was dedicated. Pastor Voss served the Bouton Congregation until October 1942. And until a new minister could be called Pastor Beiderman of Des Moines served as resident pastor. On January 17, 1943, Pastor Paul T. Meyer was installed in Grimes and served the two congregations faithfully until 1954 when he accepted a call to Northern Iowa. Soon Pastor Widdel was called and served a short time until early in 1955. In 1954 St. Paul's congregation purchased the Thornburg residence for their parsonage the amount of purchase being $4500.00, it was remodeled in 1955. We felt we were now ready for our own pastor and we called Pastor Ray Schwartz, who graduated in June 1955 from the Seminary. During 1957 Pastor Schwartz organized a congregation in Perry and served both pulpits for 2 years as he resided in Bouton. Pastor Farnham then served St. Paul's Congregation for two years and then he and family moved to the state of Oregon in 1961. During this year we were fortunate to have Pastor Lechner residing and serving Mount Olivet Church in Perry and through mutual agreement this arrangement of serving the two churches still continues for which we are very grateful to Pastor Lechner and Mount Olivet Church. In February 1964 the parsonage was sold to Mr. & Mrs. Frederic Schnoor for $5025. This brings the history of our St. Paul’s Congregation up to date and I am sure we all have a prayer in our hearts for the blessings we have received as we have witnessed our church and congregation become a reality. |
Transcribed and contributed anonymously, November 4, 2019