Information
Sheet
R Christ Lutheran
Church (Stover, Mo.).
545 Records, 1871-2003.
Two folders
and twenty-eight volumes.
MICROFILM
These are records of Christ Lutheran
Church at Stover in
Morgan County, Missouri. Included are
minutes of meetings of the church council, membership registers, records of the
Ladies Aid Society, financial records, and historical material. Some of the records are in German; translations
provided by the church are included.
Christ Lutheran
Church was organized under the Evangelical
Lutheran Synod of Iowa
in 1870 near “Old” Stover, about two miles south of the present city of that
name. On 1 November 1871 members purchased three acres
where they had previously built their church, which was dedicated on 12 November 1871. On 26 November 1871 Diedrich Jacob Ahrens was the first burial
in Christ Lutheran’s cemetery. In
response to the arrival of the Rock
Island railroad in 1903, the town relocated along the
right-of-way, becoming “New” Stover. On 4 February 1905 members held
a meeting in the new town to pick out a location to build a new church, as the
one in “Old” Stover was in poor repair.
In March and April of 1905 members were able to purchase four lots in
“New” Stover where they built their new church, which was dedicated on 8
October 1905 with a farewell worship service beginning at the original church
at “Old” Stover and continuing at the church in “New” Stover. The property at “Old” Stover, except for the
cemetery, was sold in 1907. After severe
damage to the new church building by a tornado in 1916, another church was constructed
on the same site. The new brick
building, dedicated in 1917, is still in use today (2004).
The records of Christ Lutheran
Church were collected and
arranged for microfilming by a special committee of the church. The collection includes minutes of church
council meetings from 1871 to the present, rosters of members to 1995, records
of the Ladies Aid Society, 1913-1945, records of the church building’s
reconstruction in 1916-1917, and miscellaneous historical background
materials. Reflecting the heritage of
most of its first members, the early records of Christ Lutheran Church are in
German. The transition to the English
language began around World War One, but was not fully completed until
1956. Most of the minutes of meetings in
German have been translated into English.
The translations precede the original minute books.
Also included with the Christ Lutheran
Church collection, but
cataloged and microfilmed separately, are collection R546, records of the
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Congregation (commonly known as St. John’s
Church) at Boeschenville, in Benton County, Missouri, and collection R547
records of the Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Morgan County (also
known as Nolting Church). When these
rural churches disbanded, in 1945 and 1961, respectively, many of their
members joined Christ
Lutheran Church
in Stover.
Volumes 22-28 are additional records of Christ Lutheran
Church loaned for
microfilming in 2004. This addition
brings the church’s records on microfilm through December 2003. Included are a history of the church and
materials concerning the 125th anniversary in 1995. Parish records include memorials, membership
records, annual reports, and minutes of annual and Church Council meetings.
Shelf List for this collection
Index cards for this collection
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