Tales from the Archive

Tales from the Archives is a presentation from the Archives at St. Paul's

Contributions of items of significance to the Church History or contributions of stories are welcome and encouraged. Please submit by the 23rd of the month for publication the first Sunday of the following month. It is the goal of the Archive to preserve the church history and make selected portions of it known to the congregation from time to time.

March 2024

Happenings in the Archive


Happy Lenten/Eastern Season


Archive March 2024


Recently, items belonging to Rev. Laurence P. Propst were donated by David Wolfel, the son of Florence Bassler Wolfel who passed on December 18, 2023 (shown above). Some of these items are in the display case outside of the chapel. Please take a moment and look at the display case. A big thank you to David for donating the items.

Rev. Propst, who served St. Paul’s congregation for 31 years beginning September 1, 1911 and ending on November 10, 1942, was Florence’s grandfather.

Rev. Propst and his wife Florence had two daughters, Grace and Vivian, and a son Cecil. Daughter Vivian married Ernest Wessel and their daughter was Grace Elizabeth Wessel. Cecil was the second son of the congregation to enter the ministry and was ordained by his father and Rev. Edward Meuser on May 25, 1930. Daughter Grace married Frank Bassler and they had one daughter, Florence Bassler who married William Wolfel.

In the early years, Rev. Propst traveled by horse and buggy. He was also pastor at St. John’s Pfeiffer’s Corner and St. Luke’s Redland (1919-1938) while at St. Paul’s.  He was minister when the church began and completed the building of current sanctuary in 1932.

A plaque honoring the service of Rev. Propst can be found in the sanctuary.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Kerry Griffin

Archivist


 


Scroll Down for additional photos and stories

 

Some of the Items Donated by David Wolfel

Saint Paul's Lutheran Church Archive Display near Chapel

Propst Family on the way to church

Donated by Florence Wolfel - See the History Wall outside the parish hall.


Featured Items

Glass Slide Baby Picture of A. W. Brady

Shown Left is a baby picture of A. Walter Brady as a baby. It is kind of unique as it is printed on a glass slide and over seventy years old. It is similar to photos you can get from a company call “Fractureme” which prints photos on glass today. Which goes to show you all things old are new again.

The slide is about 3x5 and is similar looking to an old mirror. Time has not been kind, but it is an interesting addition to the Archive.

Thank you Charles and Judy.


Pastor Joseph Lettrich

Congratulations to Pastor Joe on his Anniversary of 56 years of Ordination, Thursday, June 8, 2023. We are so blessed to have him here with us. Photo—Carol Lettrich. Thanks for sharing!


Elise Wessel Original Painting

Painting of the original wooden church that stood on the property in the 1870's. Now a Real Estate Office in Savage, MD.

J. Santini Painting from Wessel Room or Youth Room.

Painting of the "stone" church from earlier in our history.

John Santini was a member and a builder of homes in the area. Believe to be during the late 50's and 60's.

Chalking the Door

January 2020

1870 Bible now add to the Archive Collection

Donated by Charles and Judy Iager in September 2019

1870 Bible

Front Cover

St. Paul's "Last Supper"

St. Paul’s version of the “Last Supper’’. Our version executes some of the traditional elements. However, notice in this version the table is semi-round in the Jewish tradition and there is nothing on the table as in Leonardo’s and there is a faint image of an altar as well as a suggestion of foot washing in the lower left corner. It is fittingly located beneath our Trinity Stained Glass window.

C. Ellsworth Iager (Charles Iager’s father) bought the picture around 1980 and it is an original depicture of the “Last Supper” done by an artist. C. Ellsworth and Mary Elizabeth Iager (married 49 years) donated it to the church and took a lot of pride in giving it and having it hung up.  They were very humble about it and very proud of finding it because they loved it.   

C. Ellsworth was President of the Church Council several times. Building the parsonage and the 100th Anniversary took place while he was President.  Ellsworth sang in the choir for many years.


jump to top

A Brief History and Inventory of the Banners at St. Paul's Lutheran Church

The purpose of this photo Gallery is to document the variety of banners that enhance our worship here at St. Paul's through countless hours, talent and treasure of all those who have contributed to make them possible.


The banners contained here in take us through the Church year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Pentecost and the sacraments of marriage and baptism as well as the rite of confirmation.


Although Church banners are not new to the St. Paul's they do more than just decorate, many are based upon passage's from the Bible and God's creation and remind us of His word and the beauty of creation as well as marking important milestone in St. Paul's congregation's life.


Most of St. Paul's banners are hand sewn and one their creators, Sandy August is particularly fond of adding a ribbon. Make note of the special fabric used in some of them, such as the Advent banners. The photos may not do them justice but they have an unusual impression in them similar to a watermark on paper.


Please browse by clicking the forward arrow ">" or the backward "<" arrow on the image below.  There are at present about 60 in the collection.

The Stained Glass of St. Paul's

I happened upon a 2009 Booklet about the Stained Glass of St. Paul's and the meaning of each of the various windows at St. Paul's written I believe by Prue Ronneberg and I was inspired to re-do the booklet in a larger format and update it to present 2017. Below is the resulting story.

1952 Jr. Choir

1 John Orndorff

2 Joy Orndorff

3 Joyce Tyler

4 Linda Mauck

5 Charles David Sealing

6 Rosalie Mauck

7 Ann Buch

8 Charlie Iager

9 Brenda Wehland Grooms

10 Gertrude Bassler Sewell

11 Loretta Mauck Bassler

12 Carl Mauck

13 Marie Hall

14 Joan Grauel Sammons

15 Carolyn Wehland Frost

16 Helen Hein

17 Donald Wessel

18 Roger House


Jump to top