9jistory of jlmmanuel
Lutheran Church
One of north-central Wisconsin's oldest rural
Lutheran congregations which has always been serv-
ed in conjunction with other congregations is that
of the Immanuel Lutheran church, now of Town
of Stettin and formerly of the Towns of Berlin and
Maine.
The congregation was organized in March, 1861,
but the date of its formal incorporation as the Im-
manuel Lutheran Congregation has not been defi-
nitely determined. It is known, however, that the
settlers who later formed the congregation then re-
sided in the Town of Berlin and that the Rev. J. P.
Hoffman, an early-day circuit rider, came into the
area as early as February, 1861.
Pastor Hoffman was a circuit rider in every sense
of the word and assumed the responsibility of ad-
ministering to the spiritual needs of 18 districts,
each of them organized into a congregation. Some
of the communities mentioned in his district in those
early days were those of Amherst, Almond, Stevens
Point, Towns of Berlin and Hamburg and others in
Clark county.
In Schools and Homes
Services in the early days were held in public
schools, where they were available, or in private
homes.
It was only a short time after the congregation of
the present Immanuel church was organized that it
became evident that the existing house of worship
for the young congregation was inadequate. A
meeting to discuss the situation was called on Sep-
tember 20, 1865.
Seventeen members of the young congregation
pledged their whole-hearted support in money and
labor for the erection of a suitable house of worship.
As a result of such pledges, it was decided to build
a log church, 24x32 feet at an estimated cost of
$300. Edward Nass, August Prechel and Friedrich
Trantow were named to the building committee.
Happy, as well as unhappy, days followed for the
congregation in the ensuing years. Never a large
congregation, it was obliged to share its pastor with
other nearby congregations in the same situation
and the result was that the Immanuel Congregation
was served by pastors of various synodical affilia-
tions as it aligned itself with different congregations
from time to time.
Two Groups Merge
The situation continued until 1923, when it join-
ed with St. John's Lutheran church in the Town
of Maine to form a parish and to call a pastor to

administer to their spiritual needs. Like its sister
congregation, it now works in cooperation with the
program of the American Lutheran church.
The original log church served the congregation
for many years in the Town of Berlin but it finally
had to be replaced in 1899 by a brick veneer church
on the site of the original church. The brick veneer
church was built under the direction of the pastor,
the Rev. Fred Neubauer, and the building com-
mittee of Carl Klinger, Fritz Roemke and Herman
Rollenhagen.
A decision to relocate the church was reached in
1923. The building was dismantled and moved sev-
eral miles to the south-west, to the Town of Stettin,
to be relocated on a parcel of land acquired on the
Carl Zumann farm. The building, which still serves
the congregation, was then reassembled on its pres-
ent site.
Active Cooperation
Members of the congregation of the relocated
church have actively cooperated with the St. John's
congregation in furthering the parish program. It
has been served by the same pastors since 1923 and,
in 1925, cooperated with the sister congregation in
erecting the present parsonage adjacent to the St.
John's church.
The present membership of the congregation lists
90 confirmed members. It has a church council of
three, Elroy Pagel, Elroy Utecht, and Gordon
Mathwich.
Available records indicate that the following pas-
tors have served the congregation: The Revs. P. J.
Hoffman (1861-1867 and 1882-1885); William
Hudtloff (1867-1882); Julius Ehmke (1885-
1894); the Rev. Dr. Alexander (1894-1897); Fred
Neubauer (1897-1900); P. Retter (1900-1902);
August Koepp (1902-1923); A. W. Scharfe (1923-
1927); Jacob Reiff (1927-1945); Edmund Baum-
garten (1945-1950) ; B. F. Matter (1950-1957) and
the present pastor, Floyd 0. Olsen (1957- ).

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