St Lucas UCC: Our Heritage
The area around what is now St. Lucas Church was originally settled by the family of John Sappington, who served at Valley Forge alongside George Washington, and later with Daniel Boone in Kentucky. The community was increased by German immigrations to Missouri between 1830 and 1850. In 1838, a group of these immigrants founded St. John’s Evangelical Church in Mehlville (now on Lindbergh Blvd. Near I-55). Within 40 years, the congregation was large enough to gather another church. St. Lucas Evangelical Church was formed at our present location.
Our founders first met on March 1, 1880 in an old stone schoolhouse near Grant’s Farm, where they formed committees to solicit funds for a church and schoolhouse, to formalize the congregation and to call a pastor. On March 29, 1880, a Constitution and by-laws were adopted and the congregation was officially organized. Five acres of land were purchased on Denny Road where the new church was dedicated on July 24, 1881.
Click here for 125th Anniversary Slide Show
The first church building was a wood frame structure. The new stone church was erected in 1905, and dedicated on the 25th anniversary of St. Lucas. A German inscription over the chancel: “Blessed are they that hear the word of the Lord and keep it.” An education building was completed in 1955 to accommodate our growing programs. The sanctuary was expanded and remodeled in 1971.
Our 30+ acre campus now includes St. Lucas Cemetery, two full-sized softball fields with a neighboring picnic pavilion, a parsonage and sexton’s home, an enclosed playground for our Pre- School and a maintenance shop. Together, these facilities contain the activities and ministries of a large, suburban church. We have come far from 1880 and the era of the faithful German immigrants who built this church. They are still present with us, however, in many of our traditions and in the community identity, which is St. Lucas, part of a traditional faith for contemporary living.
Kruse Heritage Center Dedication
The weekend of October 23-24, 2010 highlighted the historical materials that were put on display in the new Kruse Heritage Center located in the chapel. The Kruse Heritage Center is named after Rev. Samuel Kruse, the second minister at St Lucas UCC serving from 1882 to 1925. The events of the weekend reflected the spirit of that approximately fifty year period. There was an open house in the Kruse Heritage Center on both days, as well as a dedication ceremony on Saturday and between services on Sunday. The Sunday worship services reflected the worship style of the early 20th century and the sermon contained excerpts from one of Rev Kruse's sermons.
St. Lucas Veterans Project To recognize and honor the military service of St Lucas members Sponsored by the Heritage Committee The Heritage Committee is sponsoring the “St. Lucas Veterans Project." The mission of the project is to “recognize and honor the military service of St. Lucas members.” We will be gathering information on each of our members who are serving or have served his or her nation in the military. By Veterans Day (Nov. 11, 2011) we plan to publish a list of those individuals. We may do something more to honor the veterans, but at this point we are just gathering information. We invite you to take a few minutes to add your name and information to our growing list of St. Lucas veterans.
On this web page we have a form for submitting the information on-line, and there will soon be a print version of this form for download, as well as for picking up in the Welcome Center.
The veterans information we would like to request:
Veteran's First Name
the Second (II)
the Third (III)
the Fourth (IV)
Sr.
Jr.
Middle Name
Last Name
Title (Mr., Dr., Capt.,...etc...)
Nickname(s) Name of person submitting the information
If self, write "self"
Contact information for veteran or person submitting the information
(phone & email address)
Is the veteran at present a member
of St Lucas church? Yes No
Was the veteran a member of
St Lucas church in the past? Yes No
Branch of the military: Air Force Army
Marines
Navy
Coast Guard
Merchant Marine
Army National Guard
Air Force National Guard
Other
Date range of service (years): yyyy-yyyy
Other brief notes that you might like to offer
If deceased, please help with the following information:
Date of birth mm/dd/yyyy
Date of death mm/dd/yyyy Location of interment:
Cemetery Name
City
State
Whether the veteran was killed in line of duty
Yes, he/she was killed in the line of duty.
Press the Submit Form button
to submit your information:
Thank you for participating in the St. Lucas UCC Veteran's Project,
Joy Dressel,
Chair, St. LUcas UCC Heritage Committee
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