The History of Jerusalem

 

The founding of the congregation dates to 1840 when Lutheran families living in the vicinity of Millport, about one mile southwest of Rothsville, started to hold worship services in their homes. Circuit supply pastors provided by the regional church would visit periodically to provide Word and Sacrament and instruct them in the faith. In 1848 these families built a house of worship in Rothsville. A charter was granted to form a congregation in 1878 and declared that the property and estate were donated to the "German Lutheran Congregation."

 

Objectives of the congregation at that time were:

1) to provide public Christian worship of God

2) support a pastor and Sunday school

3) keep and regulate a cemetery.

 

Fifty one years later, in 1899, the old church building was dismantled and a new church structure was dedicated in May, 1900. The cemetery, behind the church, had been established early on and a Cemetery Committee overseen by the Congregation Council continues to this day.  This committee continues to be firmly committed to providing perpetual care for all the saints who are buried there.

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Preaching and teaching the Word of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through music have been a strong part of the congregation's history.

As the congregation slowly grew, they were able to call their first full time pastor, the Reverend Gerald J. Jacoby, in 1938. The congregation gives thanks for all the pastors who have faithfully served us throughout their history. In the 1920s, the congregation's Women's Aid Society purchased a new Moeller organ. A new Buch-Walker organ was installed and dedicated in 2004.

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By 1966 the congregation had grown to the point that the classrooms for Sunday School were bursting at the seams.  The congregation secured a loan and constructed the two-story education wing and fellowship hall.

 

The congregation's ventures in faith continue to this day in many and various ways of serving and sharing of their gifts with the community and around the world.

 

The goals of the "German Lutheran Congregation," now known as Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, have certainly been met by the grace of God. Jerusalem continues to grow in faith through the weekly gifts of Word and Sacrament; through worship and music; in opportunities to learn, sharing their faith, and in service to the community.

 

They give thanks to God for their ancestors, who moved by the Holy Spirit, gathered together and established this communion of saints and pray that they may be found faithful in their mission.

 

Carry on, Jerusalem!