The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, July 30, 1970, Image 3
The Newberry Sun, Newberry, S. C., Thursday, July 30, 1970—PAGE 3
THE SECOND SESSION OF CHEERLEADING train
ing will continue at Newberry College through Friday.
The week-long camp is sponsored by the American Cheer-
leaders Association for junior and senior high school
cheerleaders. Over 400 girls and one boy attended the
two sessions this summer.
Redeemer Lutheran Church History
(We regret that a portion of
the type in the History of the
Lutheran Church of the Redeem
er was out of place in the last
issue of The Sun. For the con
venience of those who are re
taining these histories for future
reference, we are reprinting in
full the Redeemer history with
the hope that it is accurately
placed this time. —Ed.)
On Sunday, July 10, 1853 some
Lutherans and friends in the
village of Newberry met in the
Courthouse for worship. The
Service was conducted by the
Rev. Thaddeus S. Boinest, who
was then serving the Bethlehem
congregation near Pomaria. He
had often visited in Newberry
and had discussed with Dr. O.B.
Mayer, Major Henry Summer
and Matthias Barre the organi
zation of a congregation in New
berry. On that Sunday a con
gregation was organized with 21
members enrolled and the
name ‘‘Luther Chapel” was cho
sen. On a lot donated by Nathan
Hunter on Boundary Street op
posite the terminus of McKib-
ben Street a wooden building
of Gothic style with steeple and
bell was completed December
1, 1854. Communion ware (two
patens given by the Juvenile
Sewing Society of St. John’s
Church in Charleston, and a sil
ver chalice given by Adam G.
Summer) used at the time of
the church dedication on De
cember 10, 1854 are still in use
at communions in the Church of
the Redeemer.
After Pastor Boinest resigned
in 1856 to join the Newberry
College faculty the small con
gregation was served for the
next 17 years by pastors who
were either Newberry College
presidents or professors or who
also served other congregations.
Several of these persons came
from then-distant sections of the
nation, such as Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Virginia. The
first full-time pastor was the
Rev. H. W. Kuhns of Omaha,
Nebraska. During his five year
pastorate, marked by much
membership growth, a parson
age adjacent to the church was
built, and after 97 years it is
still standing.
In 1896, in the pastorate of Dr.
Junius Fox, the congregation’s
second house of worship was
built at the corners of Bound
ary, Wilson, and Johnstone
Streets where the present build
ing now stands. The second
building was constructed at a
cost of $14,500 and was of Rom
anesque architecture, featuring
arched doors and imported
stained glass windows, a high-
vaulted ceiling above an octa-
gonally shaped interior, and the
‘‘1854” bell in the tower at the
northwest corner. At that time,
when the membership was about
300, the congregation changed
to the present name of “Luther
an Church of The Redeemer”.
While Dr. William L. Seabrook
was pastor, the first pipe organ
was installed in 1903 and in
1906 thre was built on the south
west corner of the church pro
perty a second parsonage which
since 1962 has served as a Par
ish House for varied purposes.
The present parsonage on Evans
Circle was purchased in 1962 at
a cost of $25,000. Under the pas
toral leadership first of Dr. C.A.
Freed and later of Dr. J. C.
Peery there was added to the
second church building in 1923-
24 a Sunday School annex at a
cost of $40,000, to meet the edu
cational needs of the growing
congregation and also to pro
vide more seating capacity for
the baccalaureate and other oc
casions of the closely-associated
Newberry College constituency.
In 1951 the congregation in
augurated a long-range program
for improved and new facilities
for education and for worship.
The present Education Building
was completed in 1955 at a cost
of $70,000 during the pastorate
of the Rev. Paul E. Monroe, Jr.
Property for the church parking
lot was purchased in 1959 for
$10,000. The present Church
building was completed in 1965
during the present pastorate of
Dr. Henry A. McCullough, Jr.
at a cost of about $405,000 for
building and furnishings and
pipe organ. During the nine
teen months of construction of
the new Church the congrega
tion worshipped in the auditor
ium of the Boundary Street
School.
When the 1896 church and the
1923-24 annex were dismantled
in 1964 due to construction of
the new church the stained
glass windows (which were me
morials to ministers and lay
men who were early founders)
and the bell were retained in
storage for future use. Also re
tained were the baptismal font,
the organ chimes, and other
furnishings and equipment suit
able for continuing use. Of wide
spread interest was the old cor
nerstone and metal box from
the second church containing
earlier and then-current histori
cal items, some of which were
badly deteriorated and others of
which were placed in the new
church cornerstone box, or stor
ed in the records vault.
During these 117 years the
Church of the Redeemer has
been inseparably related to
Newberry College (and for a
few years to the Theological
Seminary included there), to the
Newberry Community, and to
the larger life and work of the
Lutheran Church. From the be
ginning the congregation has
had college presidents and pro
fessors among its pastors and
many college-related families,
and students among its mem
bers and constituency.
This congregation has contri
buted many leaders of the reli
gious, civic, educational, cultur
al and political developments
in the Newberry community and
far beyond. Concern for the lar
ger interests of the general
Church was early evidenced by
pastors and laymen in the pub
lication of catechisms, a Book
of Worship, of Church papers,
such as the former Lutheran
Visitor (later the Lutheran
Church Visitor), and in the form
ation of missionary societies,
both local and state-wide. One
of Redeemer’s pastors, Dr. M.
G.G. Scherer later became pre
sident of the United Synod of
The South and was elected as
the first secretary of the United
Lutheran Church in America at
its merger in 1918.
Four members of the congre
gation built two missions in
Newberry: Mayer Memorial in
1900 by Dr. O. B. Mayer in
memory of his father; Summer
Memorial in 1910 by the three
Summer brothers in memory of
their mother. When a new mis
sion, Faith Lutheran, was or
ganized in 1961, Redeemer trans
ferred fifty-four members at
that time and others since then.
At the time of the congrega
tion’s centennial celebration in
1953 there were recognized four
teen sons and daughters of the
congregation who had gone into
full-time church work at home
and abroad. These included
some who were called to work
of special importance and prom
inence, including Miss Mary Lou
Bowers who in 1914 went as the
first woman missionary to Jap
an. In 1950 the congregation be
gan a program of assuming part
of missionary salary support,
which now includes two over
seas missionary pastors.
During World War II the mili
tary service flag of the Church
of the Redeemer carried up to
100 stars, including three gold
stars. The Pastor during that
period, Dr. E. Bryan Keisler,
was granted a leave of absence
for several years to serve as
a military chaplain. For pastor
al ministry during that period
and at several earlier periods
the congregation elected Dr.
R. A. Goodman of Newberry
College the “Pastor Emeritus”.
Many clergy and lay members
of the Church of the Redeemer
have been elected to service on
important boards and agencies
of the South Carolina Synod,
and also of the general Lutheran
bodies to which this congrega
tion has belonged in various
periods in its history.
All of these relationships have
given to the congregation a rich
heritage of leadership and a
wide range of membership,
which together have produced
generous response of the var
ious causes and campaigns of
the congregation, the college,
the community, other institu
tions of education and of mercy,
and the general church.
In common with congregations
of other denominations in New
berry City and County, popula
tion shifts, migration of youth
to larger communities for eco
nomic and professional oppor
tunities, and the general social
and religious unrest in recent
years have presented problems
for growth and for program.
But the Church of the Redeemer
and its present pastor face for
ward with determination to con
tinue toward fulfillment of mis
sion and ministry.
Following is a list of the past
ors of the congregation:
Thaddeus Boinest, 1854-56;
William Berley, 1856-58; J. A.
Brown, D.D., 1858-60; Theophilus
Stork, D.D., 1859-60; J. P. Smelt-
zer, D.D., 1861-68; Jacob Haw
kins, D.D., supplied in 1869;
H. S. Wingard, 1870-72; H. W.
Kuhns, D.D., 1873-78 •, S. P.
(Continued on page 4)
IT’S COMFORTING
TO KNOW
that you who have your life's savings with us have been
un affected by the unfavorable markets of the past 18
months. We hope it is comforting to you, too.
Our reserves are at an all time high—savings are
increasing daily and we hav? never been in a better
position to offer you something worthwhile in a savings
program if you don't already have one with us. So if
you have money to invest, and are looking for an
aggressive yet conservatively managed savings
institution, have a talk with us. Our 35 years experience
can be invaluable to you. We believe you will like what
you see and hear.
AND REMEMBER-WHERE YOU SAVE DOES MAKE
A DIFFERENCE.
AVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
SAVINGS INSTITUTION FOUNDED