Sunday will mark the 130th anniversary of the founding of the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bouton.
A festival worship, including a review of church history and a period for fellowship, will begin at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at the church at 108 South St. in Bouton. All current and former congregants and all members of the surrounding community are invited to join in the morning’s events.
The day will include a reflection of St. Paul’s past, present and future. A lunch, complete with anniversary cake, will be served following the worship service.
In 1889 the St. Peter Lutheran Church in Grimes established a preaching station in Bouton. Worship services at St. Paul were held once a month, rotating between two rural school houses, one southwest and one northwest of the town. The pastors made the trip between the two churches with horse and buggy — later using the interurban railroad and later still by automobile.
From this humble beginning, the St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church was born six years later on Pentecost Sunday, June 1, 1895. Signing the official charter were the first 18 members: Gottfried Walz, John G. Appenzeller, Andrew Appenzeller Sr., Friedrich Rothfus, Jonas Stockburger, William Lausterer, Joseph Stockburger, W. F. Charlets, John Haberer Sr., H. J. Appenzeller, John Kirgis Sr., C. F. Wolf, G. C. Appenzeller, Andrew Appenzeller Jr., Albert Berhaus, John Appenzeller Jr., John Wolber, Jr. and Pitts Herman Meier Jr.
In 1911 the congregation purchased a former schoolhouse located east of Bouton for $115 and moved it into town for its first permanent building. In 1917 the Ladies Aid Society was organized, and in 1924 services were increased to the first and third Sundays of each month.
In 1926 the Sunday School was organized, and the Luther League was organized about the same time. In October 1929 a former Methodist Church building in Bouton was purchased for $455 to make room for the growing membership. The old building was sold for $248.24.
Worship services became weekly in 1940, and the church was enlarged and remodeled in 1941 at a cost of $7,000, thanks to many donations of labor and materials. The improved church was dedicated Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, with special services In the morning, afternoon and evening.
The relationship with the St. Peter Lutheran Church in Grimes continued until 1955, when the growing membership of both congregations required full-time pastors.
In 1957 Sunday School and preaching services were started in Perry, and St. Paul became the mother of a new mission congregation in Perry, organized as the Mt. Olivet American Lutheran Church. About two years later Mt. Olivet called their own pastor, and in the 1960s Mt. Olivet and St. Paul became a shared parish. The relationship was dissolved in 1988, with both congregations having their own pastor.
In the succeeding years, St. Paul has continued its ministry without a congregational partner. Since 1988 pastoral leadership has been supplied by several long-term and short-term contract and supply ELCA pastors, including the Revs. David Lack, Bill Benbow, Rick Miller and Ken Ahntholz.
In the 1970s the entrance was renovated, and in the 1980s the chancel was remodeled.
The congregation has been debt-free throughout most of its history. The building is simple and remains in excellent condition. It serves as a peaceful and beautiful worship, education and fellowship facility.
Worship services are usually offered on the first and third Sundays of the month at 9:30 a.m. plus on Christmas Eve and Easter. The St. Paul Lutheran Church is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Everyone in the community is welcome to worship during the regularly scheduled services land participate in the mission and ministry of the congregation.
