CHURCH TO MAR 150 YEARS

A plaque outside Trinity Lutheran Church of Albenburg's first church building lists some of the structure's history. It now houses a church museum.

The congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church of Altenburg will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its first church on June 4.

Dr. James W. Kalthoff, president of the Missouri District of the Lutheran Church's Missouri Synod will be guest speaker for the celebration, which will include a rededication service and historical readings.

Now a museum, the Altenburg congregation's first church has a long and storied history, as does the congregation itself.

Trinity Lutheran Church of Altenburg was one of six Lutheran congregations established in Perry County in the spring of 1839, according to a history written by Altenburg resident Vernon Meyr, a Trinity congregation member and graduate student in history. Another was established at Uniontown later that year. The congregations comprised many of the more than 700 Lutherans from Saxony, Germany who, under the leadership of the Rev. Martin Stephan, fled Germany to escape religious oppression there.

According to Meyr's history: "The first church building of Trinity was dedicated on Pentecost, 1845, and was used as such until 1867 when the present church was built. Thereafter it served as a school for the upper grades for 102 years until 1969 when the present school was dedicated. It now serves as a museum. The bell was cast in Spain in 1761 and brought along from Germany in 1839 when the present school was dedicated. The conventions of the old Western District of our church were held in this building in 1855 and 1857."

The rededication service and celebration will begin at 2 p.m. and will be held inside Trinity Lutheran's present building in Altenburg. Trinity Lutheran Pastor Willard Kassulke will lead the service.

Besides Scripture readings, hymns and music, the service will include brief historical readings covering the 22 years when the first church served as a church from 1845 to 1867. Other readings will review the which took place during the time when the building served as a school building from 1867 to 1969. A final reading highlights the building's present use as a museum.

Dr. Kalthoff's message will be a reminder of how God sometimes uses people in a variety of ways during the different stages of life.

Following the ceremony, guided tours of the original church will take place. Visitors will also have the opportunity to view displays and take part in a reception in Trinity's gym, sponsored by the local chapter of Aid Association for Lutherans.

The Altenburg ceremony will be preceded by the annual Outdoor Mission Festival in the picnic grove behind Concordia Lutheran Church at Frohna, which begins at 9 a.m.

The service will be led by Concordia Pastor Luther Herman with musical accompaniment courtesy of a congregation band led by Norma Mueller. Other music will be provided by the choir.

The year 1995 marks the 100th anniversary of the Missouri Synod's first mission efforts in India. Dr. Kalthoff's sermon will include a report on the Missouri Synod's mission endeavors in the nation of India, which he toured in January. Kalthoff will expound upon the subject in greater detail during an adult Bible study session to take place from 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.

Dr. Kalthoff hails from Marshfield, Mo. he is a 1963 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Ill., with additional instruction at the University of Missouri and at St. Paul's College in Concordia.

Following a year's internship in Cleveland, Ohio, he served dual parishes in Muscatine and Wapello, Iowa from 1963-66; Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Sedalia from 1966-71; and Faith Lutheran Church in Jefferson City from 1971 to 1991, when he was named president of the Missouri District.

Kalthoff is a past district counselor for the Lutheran Women's Missionary League and a longtime supporter of the Missouri District Chapter of Lutherans for Life.

He currently serves on the placement committee of the synod's Council of Presidents and is a board member of the Concordia University System and the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

Kalthoff and his wife Vickie have three children.