“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”
St. Jacob Lutheran Church has been faithfully providing worship services to the area of Miamisburg since our founding in 1821. Can you believe we have figured that we have had over 13,000 worship services here? Did you read about our 171 year old bell? We figure it has been rung over a quarter of a million times! It will ring again this coming Sunday as we have worship services at 10:30 (led by the pipe organ) and noon (led by guitars).
St. Jacob is also on the national register of historic places. We are on their website right along with the Paul Laurence Dunbar House and the Wright Brothers Cycle shop! We are listed as “Jacob’s Church”. You can check us out by clicking on the link and going to the following website: www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/OH/Montgomery/state2.html
Pastor Hout is the 12th pastor at St. Jacob. Here is the list of the pastors who have served this parish of St. Jacob Lutheran Church: Rev. John Caspar Dill..........1821-1824 Rev. Henry Heincke.............1826-1859 Rev. Christopher Albrecht....1860-1883 Rev. W. H. Brown.................1883-1899 Rev. F. W. E. Peschau.........1900-1916 Rev. J. S. Herold..................1916-1921 Rev. Walter L. Spielman......1921-1929 Rev. Charles H. Starkey......1929-1950 Rev. Joseph W. Frease.......1950-1959 Rev. Oliver Arne Rajala........1959-1982 Rev. Daniel Fant..................1983-1996 Rev. Michael G. Hout...........1998-present
As we near our 200th anniversary (and the city is now celebrating their 200th), we think it is a good time to reflect on some great memories of the past. Here are a few:
-Pastor Rajala loved popcorn and used to dry his ears of popcorn in the steeple around our bell -Pastor Peschau lost his entire library of books due to the flood of 1913. He also started the first Boy Scout troop in the city. -John Caspar Dill used to ride his horse to several congregations he served in our area (including riding it across the Miami River). -Pastor Heincke served in Napoleon’s army and fought in the battle of Waterloo. -Rev. Albrecht was the pastor while our building was erected. He was also an odd fellow (IOOF member) and his picture was found in the old hall above Ron’s Pizza. -During Pastor Spielman’s time of service here the church name was changed from St. Jacob’s to First Lutheran (it was during the first World War and we did not want to seem too sympathetic to the Germans). The sanctuary was also extensively remodeled while he was pastor. -Old Pastor Hout still rides his tall unicycle in local parades and competes in the world championships of top spinning.
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