Church History

church history

Reflecting on the past history of Zion Lutheran Church draws our attention to the many difficulties, hardships, and successes encountered by those who came before us. Existing records and data available indicate that a visit to Chamberlain in October of 1884 by Rev. A. H. Kuntz was the first by a Lutheran pastor. He was installed at the church in White Lake and later served the Ola, Red Lake, West Point, and Pukwana areas as preaching situations. He was followed by Pastor Hannaman, Pastor Gehring, and Rev. Frank Albrecht. In 1903 Rev. Albrecht was succeeded by R.G. Runge. Under his guidance the Red Lake congregation purchased a church from a Norwegian group in Pukwana and moved it to Red Lake. In the fall of 1908 the Red Lake, West Point, and Reliance congregations called the Rev. Martin Engel. He was the first pastor to make his home in Chamberlain.

In 1917 the decision was made to merge the congregations of Red Lake, West Point, and Chamberlain into one. The church building at the Red Lake site was moved to Chamberlain.

This was a gigantic undertaking as at the time road conditions, especially coming down the east hill into Chamberlain, were only one of the many problems encountered. Two steam engines were used; one was furnished by the Schweisow brothers and the other by Henry Holstein. The old “Hogsback” road was a challenge. Sleds loaded with rocks were fastened on the rear to serve as a brake. The “cuts” in the road had to be widened. It took 6 days to move the church to its present location. Originally, lots had been secured farther south but at the time there was a deep gulch and it was deemed impassable for the church. The present lots were immediately purchased for the final site. December 30, 1917 marks the date as the official organization of Zion Lutheran Church. On August 22, 1920 the congregation resolved to join Missouri Synod.

Plans for a new church began in April of 1947 and were approved January 1948. The building committee of the church was Louis Haupt as chairman, Harold Bode, Henry Schweisow, Harold Stellwag, and Ralph Bahr. The Rev. E. Neiting was pastor.

The old church building was sold to a Lutheran congregation in Highmore, SD and the construction began. On June 25, 1950 our present church of worship was dedicated. In March of 1952 the parsonage was completed and Rev. Neiting and his family moved in.

In the late 1940’s the members of Immanuel Lutheran of Ola began sending their young people to Chamberlain for confirmation classes, and in 1951 the Ola congregation dissolved and merged their memberships to Zion. Old records showed membership names of Bunge, Bode, Kiehn, Dobberstein, Grey, Henry, Priebe, Pretzer, Peterson, Ketelhut, and Stemmerman.

In 1966 Trinity Lutheran of Reliance and Zion of Chamberlain were amalgamated into one congregation with worship services and Sunday School continuing to be held in Reliance. This arrangement continued until 1973 when Trinity of Reliance was reformed and joined a dual parish with the Lutheran Church of Presho.

On June 15, 1975 Zion was rededicated as new church furnishings and remodeling had been done. Tuck pointing was done in 1984 and the basement was remodeled in 1985. The sanctuary lights and pew cushions were installed in 1989.

In the early 1990’s a new sound system was installed as a memorial.

In the spring of 1992 stained glass windows were locally designed and installed on the front east side of the church. The sixteen side windows were installed over the next two years. All the stained glass windows were given as memorials to loved ones.

On November 21, 1999 the congregation voted to approve a new handicapped-accessible addition to Zion. Groundbreaking for Zion’s addition was held on March 19, 2000, and with the help of Laborer’s for Christ and our own member volunteers, the new fellowship hall was soon completed and was dedicated with a special service on October 1, 2000.