Bridgeport Rd. E. 0544 - St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church Kitchener

• Name	Bridgeport Rd. E. 0544 - St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church Kitchener
  Church	Abt 1861	St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bridgeport, Ontario
  	congregation begun
  Born	1956	544 Bridgeport Rd. E., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario
  Gender	Unknown
  Former Geographic Area	Bridgeport
  Died	still standing
  Person ID	I1060	Properties
  Last Modified	18 May 2012

  
  

• Notes

  St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church Begun: c.1861 It is believed that a congregation was formed in the 1850s and that services were held in the Free Church, Bridgeport (built in 1848) prior to 1861 when the congregation's first pastor, the  Rev. Jacob Hoelsche  (1861-1873), began his ministry. The congregation was regularly organized at that time. Services and Sunday School continued to be held in the Free Church. Rev. Hoelsche was followed by Revs. J.L. Rau (1876-1878) and  A.R. Schultz  (1878-1882) who were from Elmira, and by  Rev. Immanuel Wurster  from Preston, 1882-1887. A church was built at 606 Lancaster Street in 1889; consecration of the new building was held on July 22, 1889. The congregation was on the Conestogo-Breslau Circuit at the time. The church was enlarged considerably in 1939 with basement renovations and the construction of an addition to the back of the church. Dedication for this major task was on October 1, 1939. The 80th Anniversary of the founding of the organization of the congregation was celebrated on October 19, 1941 with the dedication of a new entrance to the church. Land on Waterloo Road (now Bridgeport Road) was purchased in 1949, with plans to build a newer and larger church. It was not until May 27, 1956 that a ground-breaking ceremony was held to signal the beginning of construction of the new church. The cornerstone was laid July 15, 1956, and on March 31, 1957 the new church was offically opened and consecrated by Dr. A.G. Jacobi, President of the Canada Synod. Final services had been held in the old church one week before, on March 24, 1957. (The old church building had been advertised for sale on February 9, 1957.) According to Eylands (1945:92) the church at one time was joined in a parish with St. James in St. Jacobs, and St. Matthew's, Conestogo. Of interest: The hand which was on the steeple of the old church is now on the former Freeport United Church which was relocated in 1962 to Doon Heritage Crossroads. Records: Baptism dates: 1859-* Location of records: at church Marriage dates: unknown Location of records: at church Burial dates: 1873- Location of records: at church *The first baptism recorded in St. Paul's Church Book was July 18, 1859. [ADDRESS/LOCATION: 544 Bridgeport Rd, Waterloo, ON N2K 1N7; 743-4464.] References: Bridgeport W.I.; Cronmiller 1961:146,180; Eylands 1945:92; Featherston, WHS 1939(27):82; Lamb, WHS 1979(67):60; R. Taylor 1986; Waterloo Trust 1967; Weicker, 1985; WHS 1965(53):20; Zimmerman, WHS 1964(52):40-41. Church History: Centennial 1861-1961. A Brief History of St. Paul's, Bridgeport, 1961.1a 1aAmbrose, Rosemary. Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide to Churches Established Before 1900. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: Waterloo-Wellington Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1993. [used the kind permission of Rosemary Ambrose 2011]

  
  

• Event Map

  Church - congregation begun - Abt 1861 - St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bridgeport, Ontario Born - 1956 - 544 Bridgeport Rd. E., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario  = Link to Google Earth