St. Matthew’s in Penn Township to close after 150 years of worship
The once-bustling St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Penn Township will host its last worship service Sunday, Sept. 27, at 10:30 a.m. The worship service will be followed by a free-will offering hot sandwich luncheon, with proceeds going toward a perpetual fund for the upkeep of the church cemetery.
David Pikal, the chairman of the church council, said the worship service will allow time for members, former members and others to share their memories.
Pikal said the church’s membership has dwindled to about 25 members in recent years.
“I had heard that at one time, there were about 600 members,” said Pikal.
But the number of farmers — most of whom had large families — in the area has greatly diminished and, with them, the church’s membership.
Pikal said the congregation voted at its January annual meeting to close the church.
“But we were getting close to 150 years, and we had a goal of reaching that mark,” said Pikal. The church officially observed its 150th anniversary in June.
The church, of course, is rich in history with 150 years worth of memories. And there are a couple of things that are unique to it, Pikal said.
First, at least three other churches were born from an association with St. Matthew’s, including churches in Fernando and New Auburn and at least one other country church in Sibley County.
Second, the church’s 1,400-pound bell was the only church bell known to have cracked and been successfully welded.
Pikal said the repair of the church’s cracked bell became a project of the Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis in 1948. At that time, Dunwoody was looking for projects to help train returning World War II veterans.
Dunwoody instructors worked with T.W. Schuft and Bert Schuft to get the 1,400-pound bell out of the belfry and to Dunwoody for repair.
There, the bell’s metal was analyzed to make sure the right welding rods were used.
“Then, the procedure was carefully planned and followed through, resulting in complete success and the bell being restored to its original tonal quality,” according to a Dunwoody newsletter dated June 4, 1948.
The bell had originally been cast in 1892 in St. Louis.
Pikal said it is unusual for a welded bell to retain its tone. Most welded bells, he said, tend to develop a flat clang.
For more, see the Sept. 23 print edition of The Chronicle.
