Jackson church celebrates 140th anniversary

St. John's United Church of Christ in Jackson celebrated its 140th anniversary Sunday with the theme "Cherishing Our Past and Embracing Our Future."

Rodney Pensel, pastor of the church, delivered a sermon that pointed out significant moments in the church's history, particularly the rebuilding of the church after it was destroyed by a tornado in 1922.

Pensel pointed out while the tornado may have ravaged the building, churchgoers remained strong.

"It's not the building that's precious to us. It's the people sitting in the pews that make the church," he said. "It's the ones that are actually out there when you need help, when you need someone to do something, when you need an uplift or something. It doesn't come from the building. It comes from the people."

The service also paid tribute to the church's German heritage, with a reading of the Lord's Prayer in German by Dorothy Weinhold.

Pam Pensel lights candles in remembrance of congregation members who died in the past five years during the celebration Sunday of St. John's United Church of Christ's 140th anniversary.BEN MATTHEWS

Pensel explained the church's future by using 140 popcorn kernels as a metaphor for God's influence during his children's sermon. Like the popping of a popcorn kernel, Pensel showed how God's influence can help the church expand and oftentimes will take them to new places and experiences.

After the services, the congregation shared a table for a potluck meal and played lawn games on the church yard.

The rural church held its first services in the home of Rev. Frank Eschenfeld. On Sunday, the church remembered those rural roots by inviting congregants to drive their tractors to church.

Other members of the church recalled various other affiliations with the church's history, such as the long-defunct German school at St. John's.

According to Mary Daume, a longtime member of St. John's United Church of Christ, its bell is one of the few German structures left on the church grounds today.

Church artifacts sit on display during the celebration Sunday of St. John's United Church of Christ's 140th anniversary.BEN MATTHEWS

While some of the church's architectural history was lost to time, Daume's and others' memories of the church had not faded.

Families with several generations of St. John's members exchanged stories they had passed down through the years: the church's basement being hand-dug with slip scrapers in 1934, Native American movements throughout the region in the 1800s, and stories of the congregation overcoming attacks on their German heritage during World War I.

Through it all, new generations continue to preserve the church and more than a century of its records.

bmatthews@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652

Pertinent address: 781 State Highway FF, Jackson, MO 63755