The church council at St. John’s Lutheran Church Augsburg. In back, Gail Heins, Karl Resmer and Steve
Panke. In front, Lisa Roesner, Wanda Neuman, Sandy Shannon and Glenda Panke.

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Augsburg – Founded in 1862, St. John’s Lutheran Church Augsburg was started by German immigrants and has continued to serve as home for their descendants, and others, for over 162 years.

In March a For Sale sign was placed in front of the stately red brick church building, which dates back to 1904, and this marks the beginning of the end of the building as a church. However, it is a new beginning for the building which has now been zoned to rural residential. The congregation, which is already affiliated with both Grace Lutheran Church in Eganville and St. John’s Bonnechere, has sister congregations where they can find a new home.

The final service at St. John’s Augsburg, St. Johannes Kirche as it is named on the church steeple, will be held on May 4. Tragically, the closure is not a unusual happening, for Canadian churches have been closing at an accelerated rate in the last five years. Attendance had been dropping even before the COVID-19 pandemic and many simply never saw their membership come back.

In Canada, church attendance was at its highest in the 1950s and 1960s and began declining in the late 60s. In 2019, the National Trust of Canada said of 27,601 buildings of worship in Canada, 9,000 would close in the next decade. This is a reality evidenced locally as in Eganville, Melville United closed a few years ago and now St. John’s Lutheran Augsburg is closing.

“It is sad, but I would rather see it sold than torn down,” said Gail Heins, a long-time member and current member of the church council. “At least it is still standing.”

She has been affiliated with the church since her marriage in 1961 and has many fond memories of over six decades in the church. Sitting in the beautiful little church on the old historic pews, she said the closure was due to low membership and an ageing congregation.

“Older people can’t do the work anymore,” she said.

There is a lot of history in the old church for her and she hopes some of it will be preserved. There are beautiful historic items in the church, many donated by families affiliated with the church. Some are in German, the language spoken by the first parishioners. The church membership will be allowed to make requests to take some items and they will find a cherished spot.

“And someone is interested in the altar, I think in memory of their parents,” she said.

The altar is truly magnificent, with a statue of Christ, beautiful woodwork and German writing. It may perhaps find a new location at a church in the Pembroke area. The decision to close the church has been slowly coming as membership has been declining. Not too long ago, the church had a full-time pastor, sharing with one other Lutheran Church – St. John’s Bonnechere.

Then the church was approached by Grace Lutheran Eganville asking if they would be interested in sharing a pastor among the three churches. Then services were held less regularly, and at the same time attendance started to decline. Last fall the decision was made to close the church and an application was made to divide the church property into three parcels.

There is the old cemetery on one side, which is a parcel and the new cemetery on the other. Sandwiched in between is the church, which is now being sold with almost two acres of land. There has been some interest in the church already, although one plan for a commercial establishment would unfortunately have necessitated rezoning again which would have been a costly and lengthy process. With a full basement, it could be converted into a home and would be among the many former churches in the area which have found new life as a private residence.

Mother Church of the Upper Ottawa Valley

According to the church website, the church was sometimes referred to as the “mother church” of the Upper Ottawa Valley. Augsburg, the tiny hamlet named after the much larger city in Southern Germany, is located just outside Eganville. There is a lot of German history in this area in places with names like Augsburg and Germanicus and even down into South Algona.

At one point there were numerous Lutheran churches in the area, perhaps built so it was not so far to travel by horse and buggy or sleigh for the early immigrants. In the 1860s, when the church congregation was formed, it met the spiritual needs of German pioneers coming to the Ottawa Valley. At the time, an estimated 12,000 people came from Eastern Germany and Western Poland in search of a better life.

St. John’s Augsburg was the second Lutheran congregation in the Ottawa Valley and was the oldest one surviving into the 21st century. While the church dates to 1862, and there are markers in the church noting this, the building is from 1904. Perhaps the congregation met in other buildings before this or homes and there were other Lutheran churches in the near vicinity as well, including another just a stone’s throw away in Augsburg.

The list of family names from 1905 when the church was built contains many names which are familiar still over a century later, including: Buelow, Handke, Heidemann, Hein, Hoelke, Kumm, Schroeder, Verch, Wittke and Zadow, to name a few. The church also saw German immigrant families from the 1950s era and post-World War Two attending. At that point services were conducted in German on a regular basis. The late Barbara von Boetticher wrote of her memories of being sponsored by Rev.

Bruno Paulson, a childhood friend of her husband, to come to Canada in the early 1950s and their introduction to their new home on the Augsburg Road. They are included in an album celebrating the 150th anniversary of the church. She recalled the children calling him “Onkel Bruno” and his tendency to stop by for visits right around suppertime.

On one such visit to their farm, they began discussing growing up in Riga, Latvia, and old school memories. Soon it was quite late and the snow was deep outside when Rev. Bruno left. However, he came back knocking a few minutes later since he had gotten stuck in the snow. He asked her husband Theodor and their son Walter, (later known in the area as Rev. Walter von Boetticher) to help push him out. They stood on the bumper of the car to give it traction until he reached the gravel road.

“I saw how they pushed the car out of the snowbank,” she recalled. “Then the two men jumped on the bumper and off went the car. To my surprise, however, the car didn’t stop but raced off toward Eganville.”

When a good half hour later two frozen figures entered the kitchen, the story came out.

“After Rev. Paulson had reached the gravel road, he gave a pump on the gas and obviously forgot his two helpers,” she said, noting the two men screamed and banged on the roof but he did not hear them so eventually they jumped into the ditch and walked home. He had simply forgotten they were there.

150th Anniversary in 2012

Part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada, there are many fond memories for the congregants of years in the church and especially the large celebrations held in 2012 to mark the 150th anniversary celebration. There was an “old fashioned” church service then, complete with old fashioned dress. Another special service was the German language service. The church also has been a long-time supporter of nearby Camp Lutherlyn and many events have been held there.

Sandy Shannon has been the church organist for 30 years and on a recent visit to the church she played the old organ again, filling the church with music. The organ, brought in by Pastor Fred Haak many years ago, has a beautiful sound and she has made sure it is tuned regularly.

“There are 350 pipes,” she said. “Pastor Haak really had a way of playing it.”

Located in the balcony area, it takes up quite a bit of room and when she plays, she does so in stocking feet. She is hopeful the organ will be sold separately and find a new home where another pair of stocking covered feet will make the pipes ring. The closure of the church is sad for her, but she is thankful the building will be saved.

“It is sad to see it close, but as long as it is not torn down,” she said. From her vantage point at the organ, she has a great view. Although the closure was made public last fall, events continued to be held at the church this winter. On Christmas Eve, the service was bustling and this was a great closing memory for her.

“The church was packed,” she said. “It was so nice to see.”

A recent baptism of Joseph Schroeder in the church was also especially significant for the congregants and an occasion to be celebrated. Betty Ann Cayer was originally from sister church Trinity Lutheran in nearby South Algona. That church, as well as Zion Silver Lake closed in 1972 and many of the members from Trinity came to St. John’s Augsburg.

“In Trinity there were five families,” she recalled. “People were growing up and leaving. When they closed, we came here,” she said.

Married in the church in 1975, she came back to the area 19 years ago and has been back at the church since then. She remembers the days when the church was full and there were people of all ages, including many children, attending. Now things have changed for young families and many are too busy with other activities to attend. Like others, she is glad the church is being sold and hopes to see new life in it.

“We used to have 40 or 50 in our Sunday School program years ago,” she said. “I would not want to see it fall apart.”

For the congregation, both past and present, there are many fond memories of the church. Some are lovingly recorded in albums, including one featuring the 150th anniversary of the church.

In his sermon on that occasion, recorded in the book, the pastor at the time, Rev. Charlie Nolting, challenged the church, “so today, as we celebrate 150 years of existence, let us remember how we got here and how we continue to be here. Let us remember to keep not only sharing the Christian faith, but also to encourage the Christian faith and teach it – opening ears wherever we can.”

His words are as appropriate today as they were in 2012, for although the building may soon serve a new purpose, the faith of the congregation may live on in new houses of worship and the legacy of those early German families will continue to be honoured.

The closing church service on May 4, which will be held at 2 p.m. will hopefully be a homecoming service for many older members and people who have moved away from the area. There will also be a time of fellowship with refreshments at the Eganville Legion afterwards.

Church Is Sold

The church has been tentatively sold and the new owners will share their plans for its future in an upcoming article with the Leader.