DRAFT FOR LOCAL SPONSOR REVIEW. Footnotes are for reference and will not appear on the marker. Please review and edit copy and return to OHC’s Local History Office.

Ohio Historical Marker to be erected in Toledo, LucasCounty.

5/8” text, different text each side.

4 x 6” photo on side 1.

Photo caption: On June 29, 1911, Mr. Liebold of Spier, Rohns & Gehrke architects presented the building’s keys to Pastor Hugo Hamfeldt who holds an altar bible inscribed by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.[1]

Side 1:

SAINT LUCAS EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONGREGATION

In 1886, thirty-six members from Toledo’s downtown Lutheran church, St. Paul’s, met to form a German-speaking Lutheran congregation for immigrants from Pommern, Mecklenburg, and Hanover.[2] Initially worshipping at St. Stephen’s at the corner of Harrison and Oliver Street, the congregation built a frame church on this site in 1887.[3] That same year St. Lucas pioneered an early form of health insurance, The Mutual Sick Benefit Society, that later became a larger fraternal organization called The Mutual Sick Benefit Society for Ohio and Other States.[4] In 1999, after joining a program called Reconciling in Christ,[5] St. Lucas became the first Lutheran congregation in northern Ohio to publicly welcome the LGBT communities.[6] Named after Saint Luke, the patron saint of physicians,[7] the church’s history is one of healing. (126)

ST. LUCAS EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION

2015CountyCode

Side 2:

SAINT LUCAS EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

St. Lucas’s original frame and parsonage was completed in 1887.[8] In 1911, Pfaender Bros. built the present Sandusky limestone sanctuary.[9] Hann-Wangerin-Weickhardt Company from Milwaukee, Wisconsin made the original altar and pulpit.[10]M. P. Moller Co. from Hagerstown, Maryland built the standing church’s first organ, which had 28 ranks, 31 voice, and 1807 pipes.[11]In 1962, this organ was rebuilt by Tellers Organ Co. of Erie, Pennsylvania to have 48 ranks, 58 voice, and 2843 pipes.[12] The glass windows came from Detroit Window Co.[13] Paintings within the church include German-born painter Ludwig Bang’s “Resurrection” and renowned local artist Edmund H. Osthaus’s “Crucifixion”.[14] A parish house for classrooms was built in 1900[15] but was demolished in 1955 for a Sunday school building.[16] In 1979, the parsonage was torn down to make room for parking.[17](130)

ST. LUCAS EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION

2015CountyCode

[1]St.Lucas Archives on the St.Lucas campus. 745 Walbridge Ave., Toledo, OH; Email from Georgia Steele to Andy Verhoff, Dec. 7, 2015, in marker file

[2](Untitled) 25th Anniversary Booklet.Toledo, St. Lucas Congregation: 1911. p 1.Translated from German to English by Holtgrieve, Otto. Print.

[3]Sieken, Marvin. Golden Jubilee. Toledo, St. Lucas Congregation: 1936. p 3.

[4]Billmeier, Martin. 125 Years of Welcoming You Home: 1886-2011. Toledo, St. Lucas Congregation: 2011. p 19.

[5]Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Congregations List. ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation. Web.

[6] Confirmation that St. Lucas “became the first RIC church in Northern Ohio in 1999.” Email to pastor of St. Lucas from Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Communications and Graphic Design Coordinator, Zac Baker. November 13, 2015. Print.

[7]Paul calls Luke the “beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14)The Holy Bible, King James Version. Web.

[8]Sieken, Marvin. Golden Jubilee. Toledo, St. Lucas Congregation: 1936. p 3.

[9]St. Lucas’s receipts. February-May, 1911. Print. Pfaender Bros. was charged a total of $1,720.58.

[10] Hann-Wangerine-Weickhardt invoice, 1911. Print. The altar and pulpit cost $1,500.00.

[11]St. Lucas Lutheran Church’s dedicatory organ recital program, Toledo, St. Lucas Congregation: January 28, 1962.

[12]Dedicatory organ recital program.

[13]St. Lucas’s receipts. May, 1911. Print. Detroit Window Co. was charged a total of $1,000.00.

[14]Hamfeldt Nicolai, Elizabeth. “Incidents of our European Trip-1929.” Repurposed by Berger, John E. “Our St. Lucas Paintings in The Arches.” c.1962-1995.

[15]Billmeier, Martin. 125 Years of Welcoming You Home: 1886-2011. Toledo, St. Lucas Congregation: 2011. p 20.

[16]125 Years of Welcoming You Home: 1886-2011. p 24.

[17]125 Years of Welcoming You Home: 1886-2011. p 27.