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Immanuel Evangelical
Lutheran Church
150th Anniversary
Celebration
Farmington, WI [Jefferson County]
Immanuel Lutheran Church website
Watertown Daily Times, 10 06 2009
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in the town of Farmington will culminate its 150th anniversary celebration with special services and a dinner on Sunday. Worship services will be held at 8 and 10:15 a.m. The Rev. Clark Schultz, an instructor at Lakeside Lutheran School in Lake Mills and a son of the congregation, will present the special anniversary message.
Immanuel was founded in 1859 by German immigrants who moved to this area. The original name of the congregation was the Immanuel Society. Two acres of land were purchased and a log chapel was erected. This land is now used for Immanuel Cemetery.
During the mid 1860s, the Rev. Adolf Hoenecke served at Immanuel before becoming an instructor at Northwestern College in Watertown and later as president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. It was during this time that Immanuel became a Lutheran congregation and, by its confession, a member of the Wisconsin Synod.
In 1868, another parcel of land was purchased south of the original property and a new church was built. This structure served the congregation until July 1913 when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.
The present church was constructed for $19,902 and dedicated on June 28, 1914. An educational wing was added to the church in 1970. This addition is used for Sunday School, educational classes, fellowship gatherings and meetings. There have been several other renovation projects, the last of which was recently completed, but the church still retains much of its original character.
To serve the German population in the area, Immanuel was established as a church for German-speaking people in the area. It wasn’t until the 1950s that all the services were conducted in English.
A Lutheran day school was established early in Immanuel’s history, but was discontinued in 1928. However, Christian education remains an important part of Immanuel’s ministry. This is carried out by the Sunday school and in cooperation with area Lutheran day schools — St. Peter’s in Helenville, Trinity/St. Luke’s in Watertown, St. Mark’s in Watertown, St. Paul’s in Fort Atkinson, St. Paul’s in Ixonia, St. Paul’s in Lake Mills and St. John’s in Jefferson — and Lutheran high schools — Lakeside Lutheran High School in Lake Mills and Luther Preparatory School in Watertown.
Immanuel currently has a membership of 654 baptized and 543 communicant members.
Pastors who have served over the years include E. Kienow, Adolph Hoenecke, Gustav Bachmann, A. von Scheliha, Albert Opitz, A. Denninger, Conrad Ide, F. Lanzer, Emil Hannemann, Theodore Kliefoth, August Paap, Franklin Dobratz, Gary Pieper and Kurt Eggert. Richard Pagels has served as the pastor of the congregation since 1976 with Reuben Schmitz serving as assistant pastor since 2003.