The history of Messiah Lutheran Church is very much a part of the history of Mifflintown itself. The first settlers who built the town and eventually started the church were only one generation removed from the French And Indian War. In fact, it was in 1755, only a year after hostilities began, that Alexander Lafferty purchased the 275 ½ acres of land that would eventually become Mifflintown. Then in 1774 John Harris, an immigrant from Donegal, Ireland, bought the tract for 1200 pounds. It was Harris who laid out the town of Mifflintown and named it in honor of Governor Thomas Mifflin.
Harris built his own personal dwelling here. It was a log house at the intersection of what is now Cedar Spring Road and Water Street. Meticulous in his planning, he even set aside land for the cemetery, and when he died in 1794, his was the first grave to be used. Several years before he died (1791), however, John Harris donated the plot of land at the intersection of Third Street and Washington Avenue to a group of German Lutherans who were meeting together for worship. In 1801 they formally accepted the lot from the Harris heirs, establishing themselves officially as a congregation.
There happened to be other settlers of the German Reformed Denomination also living in the area, and the two groups combined efforts to construct a church building. When finished, it was a log structure that measured thirty-two feet long by twenty-eight feet wide. The elevated pulpit occupied one side of the interior, and the seating was arranged along the other three sides. The first Church Council of record was elected in 1803.
Preachers were not easy to call in those days. The first Lutheran preacher of record to preach west of the Susquehanna River was Rev. Mathias Guntzel who preached to the settlers in Pfoutz Valley in the late 1700’s. The Mifflintown group acquired the regular services of Rev. William Scriba in 1805. Finally in 1811, about twenty years after John Harris donated the lot, the little log church was dedicated. The exact history is somewhat clouded here, but the church was first known as St. Mary’s, and all the sermons were preached in German. It was the First Lutheran Church in Juniata County.
It took more than two decades to establish the Lutheran congregation in Mifflintown, but these were difficult times for everyone. In fact, it was in 1811 that President Madison sent an ultimatum to Great Britain demanding that She cease harassment of American ships. Next year not only would the War Of 1812 erupt, but the Shawnee Indians would be defeated in the Battle of Tippecanoe, and in Europe Napoleon Bonaparte would suffer defeat at the hands of the Russians. With this backdrop it is easier to understand how intense the twenty year struggle must have been for the Messiah Lutherans as they strove to establish their church. Nevertheless, by this time the society had grown to forty-six members.
In the ensuing years the Pennsylvania Canal was built. The section between Harrisburg and Lewistown was completed in 1829, and the entire system was in operation by 1834. Cyrus McCormick received a patent for his reaper, and gas refrigeration had its beginnings. In 1837 the Borough Of Mifflintown was incorporated, and believe it or not the Rev. S. R. Boyer, pastor of St. Mary’s, preached his sermons in both German and in English! Slowly the Country was opening up, and with greater prosperity came increasingly more settlers. All this rendered the Old Log Church too small for a growing membership.
The cornerstone for a new church on the same property was laid in 1838, and the new building, constructed under contract by Peter Bernheisel, was dedicated in 1839. During the 1840’s the records show that preaching may have consumed almost the entire Sabbath with as many as eleven sermons being delivered on a given Sunday! In 1846 the name of the church was changed from St. Mary’s to Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Congregation.
It is interesting to note that during the St. Mary’s period, services were held without the aid of musical instrumentation. In fact, many of the faithful saw the use of musical instruments within the church as the work of the Devil. Thus, it was not without some internal strife that sometime during the late 1840’s or early 1850’s a melodeon, a small reed organ, was procured.
A History of the Messiah Congregation was written in 1903 by Dr. W. H. J. Holman, and he had this to say about the attitude of some concerning music in church: “Subsequent to this time, a brother brought a violin into church to aid in an entertainment which was given by the Sunday School, and some would not remain in the church because of the great wrong that, in their opinion, was being done.”
Within roughly a decade after the church of 1838 was built, the Pennsylvania Railroad was extended through Mifflin. The railroad was so successful, that it would ultimately contribute to the demise of the Pennsylvania Canal. More important to the history of Messiah, it caused Mifflin – then known as Patterson – to grow and boom, gradually swelling the Church’s membership. The decision to expand existing church building space was taken out of the hands of the church authorities when on July 11, 1879 a destructive storm swept through Mifflintown causing extensive damage to many buildings, including the church.
Renovations and expansion became instantaneous priorities, and work began almost immediately. The renovated church was rededicated three days after Christmas in December of 1879. But alas, the expansion proved to be only a temporary solution to the problems associated with a rapidly growing membership. By 1899 the decision was made to tear down the parsonage to make room for an entirely new modern church and to build a new parsonage as an attachment to the new church.
John E. Brindle, a German immigrant, a builder of great local respect, and a member of the congregation took on the task. He laid the cornerstone in 1900, and the new church – the present Messiah Lutheran Church – was dedicated in 1903. Mr. Brindle accepted no personal gain except the thanks of the congregation. The building ultimately cost $25,000, and at the time of its completion, it was entirely paid for with $1,000 remaining in the building fund. This was used for the purchase of a new pipe organ. The pastor of record during this building project was Rev. W. H. Fahs.
It is interesting to know that the same bell that called the faithful to worship in 1838 and continued to do so in the renovated church of 1879, was installed in the church of1900 where it remains to this day.
Mr. J. Wallace Fasick was in attendance during the April 5, 1903 dedication of the new church. Mr. Fasick held the position of church sexton at the time, but there is more. He was baptized in the Old Log Church during the pastorate of Rev. George Heim. In the company of his mother, he participated in the dedication of the church of 1838, and now he attended the dedication of the church of 1900, the present Messiah Lutheran Church!
In more modern times an educational wing was added in 1931. This occurred at the beginning of the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Paul W. DeLauter who was destined to lead the flock for forty-two years, the longest tenure of any of Messiah’s pastors. Then almost fifty years later under the supervision of church member Brady Smith, the basement was dug out and a fellowship hall and new kitchen were constructed in 1982 during the pastorate of Rev. Claude R. Baublitz. In 1999 and 2000 with Pastors Rev. William Esborn and Rev. Anna Ritter guiding the congregation, member George Hazard Jr., closely supervised the replacement of the roof, completion of massive repairs to the sanctuary, and renovations to the library. On Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001, Messiah celebrated its 200th Anniversary as well as dedication of our refurbished sanctuary and other rooms within the church building. Pastor Esborn served Messiah until July 31, 2016, when he then began work with a regional Hospice program.
From August 1, 2016 until October 31, 2019, Rev. Chris Mathiason, pastor of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Licking Creek, became our interim pastor while a search was established for a new pastor for our parish.
On Reformation Sunday, October 27, 2019, after an extensive and exhaustive search for a new pastor, one of our own flock, Samuel J. Leister, came forward to accept the call for his own congregation and, with studies already underway, took over as Vicar for Messiah Lutheran Church. He guided the congregation through the unforeseen Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020, and continued his studies to become the full-time pastor at Messiah. He became ordained and installed as pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church on Saturday, July 2, 2022.
It is helpful to look back upon the past since this is one way to gain a perspective on both the present and the future. The world has changed in many ways, and with these changes vastly different demographic patterns and lifestyles have supplanted those of historical record. Grappling with these new dynamics now adds to the challenge facing all churches as we venture forth into the new millenium pursuing the mission of ministry.
