FRIEDHEIM CHURCH CELEBRATES 150TH ANNIVERSARY

The Trinity Lutheran Church at Friedheim is celebrating the 150th anniversary of their church this year.

FRIEDHEIM -- Five generations of the Kester family have attended Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, so it isn't unusual for Gilbert Kester to know so much about the congregation's history.

"My great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather were founding members of the church, so all this has been handed down to me," Kester said.

While planning the congregation's 150th anniversary celebration, he and his wife, Bettye, also discovered some obscure details about the church's history.

The church will celebrate it's anniversary with special services Sunday. Dr. Al Barry, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, will speak at 9:30 a.m. The Men's Choir from Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville will present a concert in the afternoon following a basket lunch.

The Kesters' research found that Trinity is the oldest and only church in Friedheim to have continuous services at the same location. And long ago it was the custom for men and women of the congregation to sit on opposite sides of the sanctuary, almost as if they were segregated,

Church elders had to stand beside the congregation's first Christmas tree so they could extinguish the low-burning candles that had been tied to the tree.

Many of the customs of the early church are still observed, Kester said.

Each time a child's name is said during confirmation, the bells toll. The same is true during funerals, as the body is carried from the church to the nearby cemetery.

Many of the customs were picked up and are probably the same for other churches, he said. "But I can still hear the sounds of the a cappella choir outside" during annual mission festivals.

An amazing fact is that the original church building is still standing and is used every Sunday for worship, Bettye Kester said.

"The size of it always amazed me, for what few members they had at that time," she said.

Trinity was formed in 1848. The current stone building along County Road 415 was built in 1856.

The congregation began with 20 families who had settled in the Friedheim area but were attending worship in nearby Uniontown, Gilbert Kester said.

"We have a history of working together," he said of the area's churches.

Another shared element in the area is the German tradition of the early Lutheran churches in Cape Girardeau and Perry counties.

Trinity will hold a German service Aug. 9, with former pastor, the Rev. Adam Mueller. The East Perry German Band will perform.

"We hope to start the tradition again," Bettye Kester said. While researching the history, much of the early records of the church had to be translated from German, she said.