A Word From Our Pastor
Hello and welcome,
Allow me to introduce St. John’s faith community to you. This congregation has a long history in Michigan City which is being reshaped each day as we follow Jesus Christ. Our journey of faith is new each and every day so we have adopted this statement to guide our common life in Christ, “Love the Lord, Share the Faith and Serve all People”.
Most recently we have focused on helping families love the Lord in their home life. We have a method called the “4 W’s” which is an easy way for families to engage the Lord in family participation worship. Please ask about being introduced to this ministry.
Our most prominent ministry of sharing faith is a community-wide vacation bible school. We have partnered with eight other congregations to minister to youth in this city. Our facility is most suitable to host this week-long event but the unity among these congregations in sharing faith with youth is a powerful witness to Christ. We have been reaching over 100 children each year for about seven years, all for God’s glory.
We also provide a pre-school experience during the week that nurtures school readiness skills and introduces children to Jesus.
Serving people has been an ongoing outreach for this congregation. We host Red Cross blood drives, Cub Scouts, and two small congregations that worship separately in our building. We support food pantries, soup kitchens, and deliver Meals on Wheels. We provide food and labor as we serve men’s and women’s shelters in this city. Our building is also used as an emergency Red Cross shelter when severe needs arise. We are very much involved in our community.
Thank you for your interest in St. John’s Church. I extend an invitation to you to come worship and share ministry with us in Jesus’ name.
Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus,
Pastor Bill Fine
Our Staff & Leadership
William H. Fine | Pastor | bfine@stjohnsmc.org
Nicole Orzech | Office Manager | norzech@stjohnsmc.org
Joyce Pairitz | Secretary | secretary@stjohnsmc.org
Board of Directors
First & Last | President
First & Last | Vice-President
First & Last | Treasurer
First & Last | Secretary
Our History
Michigan City was a small but growing community on the southern shores of Lake Michigan. The German Pioneers who settled here had come to make a new home in the land of opportunity, America. These pioneers yearned for a place to worship and to educate their children in the language of their homeland.
In response to this need, the Evangelical Church in Germany and Missionary Society of Basel, Switzerland, had sent missionary pastors to this country in the early 1800’s. They endured many hardships, traveling in the Mid-west, as they brought the Word of God to the German immigrants, and no doubt, their efforts led to the organization, on May 14, 1856, to the German United Evangelical Lutheran St. John’s Congregation here in Michigan City.
The first pastor to be called was Rev. C. W. Haass in 1856, the same year that the first church building was erected at the Southeast corner of Ninth and Spring Streets at a cost of $2500.
Five years later, in order to provide benevolent and insurance benefits for the members of the church, St. John’s Aid Society was organized in October, 1861.
In 1867, the rapidly growing congregation found it necessary to build a larger house of worship, located at Ninth and Franklin Streets. Having a balcony on three sides of the sanctuary and seating for 600 persons, with a tall steeple, it was an imposing structure and built at a cost of $28,000. This building was a landmark in the community, and it’s tall steeple was topped by a gold leafed cross which was a dominant feature of the city. It served the congregation for 101 years.
Fifteen years after the erection of the church building a parsonage and a schoolhouse were built to match the brickwork of the church.
The parsonage faced Franklin Street and the school faced Ninth Street. These two building cost $7500 in 1882. At this time, the first church building, which had been serving as a school, was sold. When the Parochial School was discontinued later, the school became the parish hall.
From the time when the church was organized until June, 1919, the German language was used exclusively in the church services. The first English service was held on the 29th of June, 1919, given by Rev. Paul Irion. He was the longest serving minister fro 1907 to 1940. It was during this period of service that the church merged with the Evangelical Synod in 1925 and the Reformed Synod in 1934.
For the One Hundredth Anniversary in 1956, the congregation voted to purchase a 9 ½ acre site on the growing South edge of the city, on Franklin Street for $18,000. This became know as South Acres.
The following year in June, 1957, the United Church of Christ was duly constituted by the representatives of the Congregational Christian Churches and of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, in a United General Synod held in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1958, Rev. Paul H. Frankenfeld was called to the pastorate of St. John’s, and in 1962, the congregation voted favorably to relocate on the South Franklin Street property. Groundbreaking ceremonies were in December of 1966 and the Dedication Ceremony took place on May 19, 1968.
This is only a brief history of our church that started with 21 families. These people struggled to make a new home in Michigan City to our present membership of many diverse backgrounds, living in luxury undreamed of in 1856. In the beginning till now we are still all working together to carry on God’s work, here at St. John’s and through the United Church of Christ around the World.
