Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/453

 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTS 381 them. In 1857 Rev. Heyer passed tl rough Red Wing and called them together for services. In 1858 a Conference was held at the Swedish Lutheran Church, at which gathering three German pastors were present — Rev. Wier, Key. Heyer and Rev. Bauer or Brauer. When the Germans heard of this they came and pleaded with the pastors in behalf of their distress, being without the Word of Life. Rev. Wier promised to serve them occasionally and administered the Sacrament of Holy Baptism among them. Services were held in private homes, and finally in the Swedish Lutheran Church. The members who first started the congrega- tion w r ere : William Retschlag, Andrew Lehrbach, Lorenz Hoff- man. George Zeitler, Ferdinand Hempftling and a few 7 others whose names could not be ascertained. One of the first elders of the congregation was Ferdinand Hempftling. In 1861 the little fold of German Lutherans mustered up courage to build a church, which was dedicated to the service of the Lord in December of that year. Rev. Heyer, the founder of the Minnesota Synod, con- ducted the services of dedication, according to the Lutheran Ritual. Rev. Gruscndorf took up the work in 1861 and taught school, but left soon. In 1862 Rev. C. F. Heyer took charge of the congregation, but owing to his advanced age retired in 1863. Rev. C. II. Blecken succeeded him and served the congregation until 1866. At this time Rev. A. Schmidt was called. He was quickly succeeded by Rev. Christian Bender, who took charge of the congregation December 7, 1867. L T nder his pastoral direction the congregation quickly flourished. After ten years of labor, it became necessary that the congregation erect a more commodious church structure and the present edifice was erected and dedi- cated in 1878. In 1881 it became necessary to call a teacher, R. Bertling. He was succeeded in 1884 by F. W. Kalfahs, under whose management the school flourished to an enrollment of sixty-five children. In 1889 hardships were encountered. The teacher, having been called to Wauwatosa, Wis., the congrega- tion hesitated to call a successor amid these trying circumstances. Soon, however, brighter days came along and the congregation was enabled to purchase a $1,200 Kimball organ. This bright spark was soon darkened when the successful career of the true and faithful pastor. Rev. Christian Bender, came to a sudden close. Over thirty-three years he faithfully served the congrega- tion with much sacrifice. God crowned his labors with success. He died February 17th, 1901. After many vain efforts to secure a successor, the present pastor, Rev. J. R, Baumann, was finally called September 1, 1901. and was installed by Rev. Wm. Franz- mann. of Lake City, Minn., in that year. In 1902 the congrega- tion erected a parsonage for the pastor. Feeling the necessity of English mission work, the pastor was obliged to conduct English