Closing service scheduled at St. Paul

After over 73 years St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church in Oconto Falls has announced a closing service, scheduled for 3 p.m. Aug. 4 with a catered meal to follow at the church, 301 S. Chestnut Ave.

The Rev. Matthew R. Arnold and seminary student John Wenzel will conduct the service. Arnold was pastor at St. Paul’s from July 1996 until January 2021, and Wenzel was a 2010 confirmand of St. Paul. Anyone planning on attending the meal is asked to RSVP by July 29 to Linda VanDenElzen at linmaebat@gmail.com or call 920-846-8105.

After almost three years of unsuccessful attempts of calling a pastor, St. Paul conducted its final weekly worship service Nov. 26, 2023. The building has been listed for sale through Ed Rudd of Keller Williams Realty in De Pere.

According to a history submitted by parishioner Jim Kardoskee:

The congregation was organized in a meeting held at the home of Lawrence Garbrecht in Oconto Falls on Sept. 5, 1950. Their first pastor was Rev. Herbert G. Walther, pastor of Our Savior’s, Lena, forming a joint parish between the two churches.

On Oct. 1, 1950, the first service was held in the home of Carl Meyers on South Main Street in Oconto Falls. Beginning the following month, services were held in the Kiwanis Hall in the basement of 101 N. Main St. On March 31, 1951, five lots were purchased on the corner of South Chestnut Avenue and Cedar Street to erect a permanent church. Over the next year, the congregation worked diligently at the Herman Haag property cuƫting logs, milling and hauling lumber to build their church.

On May 9, 1952, groundbreaking took place for the first permanent church building along Chestnut Avenue. The first church was dedicated on Nov. 2, 1952.

In July 1957, St. Mark’s Lutheran, Town of Spruce, joined the joint parish of Our Savior’s and St. Paul’s, creating the Lutheran Tri-church Parish. In 1958, the Lutheran Tri-church Parish, formerly a subsidized mission parish of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, became self-supporting.

A mortgage burning was held Jan. 31, 1965, to commemorate paying off the original loan from the synod.

St. Paul’s purchased its own parsonage at 104 N. Washington St. on April 15, 1965, and the pastor moved from Lena to Oconto Falls.

The need for a larger facility was recognized, and on June 27, 1976, a groundbreaking service was held for a new church to be built next to the existing building on the corner lots along Chestnut Avenue and Cedar Street. The cornerstone was laid on Oct. 10, 1976, with the first service held on Dec. 12, 1976. On Oct. 2, 1977, the new church was dedicated.

In 1988, St. Paul called its own full-time pastor, withdrawing from the Lutheran Tri-church Parish. In the early 2000s, the need for barrier-free access to the basement fellowship hall was recognized, and groundbreaking took place for an addition with elevator and bell tower on Aug. 24, 2003. The datestone was laid on Sept. 27, 2007, bringing about the facility as it exists today.

During the 73 years of existence, St Paul was served by eight pastors: Rev. Herbert G. Walther (Oct. 1, 1950-Oct. 24, 1954), Rev. Wayne Schmidt (July 1955-Jan. 27, 1957), Rev. Arlyn L. Schmeling (June 24, 1957-Oct. 30, 1960), Rev. Victor C. Schultz (Dec. 11, 1960-January 1967), Rev. Warren R. Steffenhagen (July 9, 1967-October 1988) Rev. Charles Heup (Oct. 23, 1988-Oct. 24, 1993), Rev. Steven J. Arndt (July 24, 1994-May 19, 1996), and Rev. Matthew R. Arnold (July 21, 1996- Jan. 10, 2021).