Lutheran History in Coonalpyn

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"A brief history of the Coonalpyn Lutheran Parish"

The first significant movement of Lutherans into the Coonalpyn District took place in the early 1920's. The Church was an essential part of the lives of these early settlers and the first of two congregations was formed on the 9th of March 1930. 27 people were present at that meeting, held under the chairmanship of Pastor Hansen, and agreed to call it the Bethlehem Lutheran Congregation. It was decided to hold services fortnightly. After being under the direction of the Home Mission Committee for a number of years, the congregation in 1944 became a member of the Tailem Bend Parish. This membership continued until 1960 when the Bethlehem Congregation, Coonalpyn, became a part of the newly formed Keith Parish.

A second Lutheran Congregation was formed in Coonalpyn on 28th July 1940, under the leadership of Pastor J.T.P. Sabel. At this meeting with 12 members present, the name Immanuel Lutheran Congregation was adopted. The early services were held in the homes of members and the Pinnaroo Pastor served the congregation. This arrangement continued until 1941 when the congregation joined the Bordertown Parish.

In 1967, with the amalgamation of the ELCA & the UELCA, the two Coonalpyn Congregations joined to form the "Redeemer Lutheran Congregation" and became the centre of the new Coonalpyn Parish, comprising Coonalpyn, Tintinara and Meningie.

In their early years, the congregations held their services in the old Institute on the west side of the railway line. Moves to erect a new church began as early as 1946 and on the 15th May 1947, when the building of the southern end of the township, a decision was made by two congregations to build conjointly. The foundation stone was laid on the 25th May 1952 and the Church was opened and dedicated on the 16th November 1953. The Pine grove was planted in the same year. A spacious church hall was added to the church plant and opened on 13th March 1960. A prefabricated building, providing three Sunday school classrooms was purchased and erected on the church ground in 1966. The spacious brick manse was dedicated in April 1967. The first resident Pastor was Pastor T.T. Reuther who was installed into the newly formed Coonalpyn Parish in 1967.