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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, In 1867, Pastor F. Erdmann of Randolph County | ||||||
| 3 | brought 12 families from his home congregation and
purchased 80 | ||||||
| 4 | acres of land in Lucas Township as a location for a
new | ||||||
| 5 | congregation; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, St. John's Congregation was organized on July 21,
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| 7 | 1867 and took the name Evangelical Lutheran St. John's Church; | ||||||
| 8 | and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, A log cabin church was built on a five acre tract
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| 10 | which Martin Hut sold to the congregation for one dollar;
the | ||||||
| 11 | church was dedicated on November 10, 1867; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, In 1888, the congregation was accepted into
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| 13 | membership of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, In 1917, the church celebrated its 50th | ||||||
| 15 | anniversary;
there were 292 baptisms, 167 confirmed, 53 | ||||||
| 16 | marriages, and seven
burials; the congregation listed 170 souls | ||||||
| 17 | at that time and nine
pastors had served the congregation; and | ||||||
| 18 | WHEREAS, In 1957, the congregation decided to build a new
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| 19 | church; the bell tower was completed in 1979; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, By the 1990s, the church was in need of repairs
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| 2 | and expansions with an average of 63 children in Sunday school,
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| 3 | 55 in adult class, and a worship attendance of 190; in April
of | ||||||
| 4 | 1999, Sunday school rooms were added and a new kitchen was
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| 5 | built, along with expanding the parish hall; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Thirty pastors have served the congregation with
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| 7 | Reverend Joel Oschwald, the present pastor; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church
currently | ||||||
| 9 | has 318 baptized members and continues to subscribe to
the | ||||||
| 10 | founding father's confession of the Holy Scriptures as the
only | ||||||
| 11 | rule and norm of Christian doctrine as set forth in the
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| 12 | Unaltered Ausgburg Confession of 1530; therefore, be it
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| 13 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 14 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
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| 15 | congratulate St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church on
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| 16 | celebrating its 150th anniversary; and be it further
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| 17 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
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| 18 | presented to St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church as an
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| 19 | expression of our esteem and respect.
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