CHURCH: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Dillsburg, York County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Abby Bowman Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/ ________________________________________________ History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of West Pennsylvania of the United Lutheran Church in America, 1825-1925 Edited by Adam Stump, D.D. and Henry Anstadt, D.D. Published by the Action of the Synod in Celebration of Its Centennial, Printed For The Synod By J. R. Kerr & Bro., Chambersburg, Penna.,1925 _______________________________________________ Pg 462-464 ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, DILLSBURG, PA (Dillsburg Charge) REV. G. A. LIVINGSTON, PASTOR March 5th, 1855, Rev. Joseph R. Focht became the pastor of the Dillsburg Charge. At this time there was no Lutheran church in the town of Dillsburg. August 25th, 1855, a meeting was held in the school house, and after some consideration they decided to build a church. Mr. George Lau agreed to build the church for $1250. During the erection of the building the services were held in the school house. May, 1856, the corner stone of the new church was laid. Rev. D. H. Focht of New Bloomfield preached in German and Rev. John A. Evans of Newville preached the English sermon. November 16th, 1856, the church was dedicated to the Triune God and given the name of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dillsburg. Rev. Focht conducted the services and Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, D.D., L.L. D., of Baltimore, preached the dedicatory sermon. April 4th, 1857, the congregation was organized by the Rev. J. R. Focht in the new church, and adopted a constitution for their government, which was signed by the following: John Gable, William Reitzel, John Yost, Samuel Wagner, Peter Shriver, Andrew Spark, Abraham Rhodes and David Hall. This congregation had been organized after the church was built. Twenty members partook of the first communion. Miss Sophia Dougherty is the only living charter member; although she is 93, she enjoys the Holy Communion, yet unable to attend the service in the church. The entire cost of the building when completed was $1693.22. On the 5th day of March, 1859, Rev. Focht resigned as pastor. In 1865 St. Paul's became an independent church. The church was served by Rev. J. R. Goff from 1865-1866. During his pastorate the Sunday School was organized. November 1st, 1866, Rev. J. R. Goff resigned. The same month Rev. J. T. Williams was elected pastor. He remained until the following July, 1867. Beginning with the 1st of April, 1868, Rev. A. Babb supplied the pulpit for eleven months. March 21st, 1869, Rev. J. K. Bricker preached his first sermon. It seems that about this time St. Paul's again became a part of the Dillsburg Charge, making four Churches in the Charge, Salem, St. John's, Bermudian and St. Paul's, making the charge the same as it was before the separation. January 15th, 1871, Rev. J. K. Bricker resigned as pastor of the Dillsburg Charge, January 1st, 1872, Rev. Daniel Sell became the pastor. May 10th, 1874, St. Paul's of Dillsburg withdrew from the charge. December, 1875, St. Paul's united with the Rossville Charge. On the 8th of July, 1883, St. Paul's severed its connection with the Rossville Charge and became a part of the York Springs Charge, of which Rev. Adam Stump was the pastor. Rev. Adam Stump delivered his farewell address October 25th, 1885. In 1888 a readjustment of the charge took place, St. John's (Franklin), Salem (Barrens), St. Paul's and Emmanuel forming a charge to be known as the Clear Springs Charge. This charge is now known as the Dillsburg Charge. In 1892 the church was enlarged and remodeled at a cost of $1995; these improvements were made under the pastorate of Rev. W. S. T. Metzger. In 1909, under the pastorate of Rev. I. W. Trostel, the congregation purchased a property on the corner of Baltimore and Hanover Streets as a church site for the new church at a cost of $1720, and in 1912 a home was bought for a parsonage at a cost of $2200. In 1913 a fire broke out in the town at which time eight buildings were destroyed, among which were the church and parsonage. The new pastor, Rev. George H. Eveler, had just arrived and moved into the parsonage and lost almost all in the parsonage. However, the loyal people set to work to rebuild. They erected a new church, 107 x 50 feet, built of red brick and stone trimming, containing a large auditorium and Sunday School room, equipped with steam heat and electric light. The building in those cheaper times cost $19,000. They also built a modern brick parsonage with all conveniences costing $3,000. The church was dedicated September 13th, 1914; services were conducted by the pastor, Rev. G. H. Eveler, H. H. Weber, D.D., of York had charge of the finances. The building committee were William Seibert, J. K. Evans, W. P. Deardorff, Allen Kline, Samuel E. Wagner, H. L. Miller, J. S. Kapp. The present church council are: Trustees, W. P. Deardorff, G. E. Seibert and J. W. Grove; Elders, G. C. Fishel and J. K. Rupp; Deacons, J. A. Goudy, and J. S. Kapp. The congregation now has a membership of 239 and a Sunday School of 336. The congregation has a Ladies' Aid Society, Woman's Missionary Society, Young Woman's Missionary Society and Light Brigade and Christian Endeavor. The following is a list of the pastors: Revs. Joseph R. Focht, 1855-1859; Aaron Finfrock, 1859-1864; J. R. Groff, 1865-1866; J. T. Williams, 1866-1867; A. Babb, 1868-1869; J. K. Bricker, 1869-1871; D. Sell, 1872-1874; E. Studebaker, 1875- 1876; J. F. Dietterick, 1876-1877; E. Minter, 1877-1881; Adam Stump, 1881-1885; from this date the Charge has been at present constituted, and the pastors are the same as listed in the sketch of Emmanuel Lutheran Church.