St. John’s Lutheran Church of Kimball continues to celebrate memorable events in its history. Mission Festivals and the dedication of the first church building were celebrated by former pastors visiting in August and October.
On Sunday, Feb. 23, St. John’s will hold a memorable event with Rev. Paul Cloeter, former pastor, preaching at 9 a.m. service. Pastor Cloeter was St. John’s first full-time pastor, from 1982-1986, and his wife Nancy was one of the organists. From 1902-1982, St. John’s shared a pastor with either Concordia Lutheran in Fair Haven or St. Paul’s Lutheran in Eden Valley.
It’s quite appropriate that Pastor Cloeter come back to recognize the first Divine Service held for St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on Feb. 23, 1902. This service was held at the Methodist English Church in Kimball. St. John’s rented the Methodist English Church for $12.50 a year until December 1903. Since St. John’s wanted to find a church building that could house their Sunday school children, it was resolved to rent the German Evangelical Church at a cost of $20 a year. German Evangelical Church was rented until October 1905, when St. John’s dedicated its fist church building.
On Sunday, Feb. 17, members of St. John’s served coffee and rolls at the United Methodist Church in Kimball as a way of saying “thank you” to their founding fathers for allowing St. John’s founding fathers to use their church building.
Pastor Cloeter left Kimball in 1986 on a call to Bessemer, Mich. He served there until 1995, then returned back to the area with his family to serve Trinity Lutheran Church in Sauk Rapids. He, his wife Nancy and their three children live in Sauk Rapids. Jeff is married and attending Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mont.; Anne is a freshman at UW-River Falls, Wis.; and John is in tenth grade at Sauk Rapids/Rice High School.
This Sunday, Feb. 23, a pot luck will be served after Sunday School in the fellowship hall around 11:30 a.m. This will give members and visitors a chance to visit with Pastor Cloeter and his family.
The next celebration of St. John’s Centennial will be Sunday, June 9, with a 9 a.m. service preached by Rev. James Mackereth, followed by a confirmation reunion and lunch at Playland Ballroom. The Festival Service at 2 p.m. that day will be preached by Rev. Robert Krueger.