Churches Of Mt. Vernon
Baptist Church 1869-1954
The Baptist Church that once stood on Jackson Street, in the town of Mt. Vernon, was built in 1869. The land for the church was donated by Isaac and Joanna Brader, who donated their Bible as well. The bell on the church had been brought from Milwaukee. The church cost $3,500.00 to build. In 1888, the whole building was raised, a stone foundation was built, and a furnace was installed. Also in 1888, a Choir School was started in the church. Ben Rogers was the instructor. The original congregation consisted of some sixty members, with the Reverend George Martin as their pastor. Pastor Smith was the first to preach in the new church. Several other pastors served the church. Reverends Martin, Lincoln, Higby, Elwood, Sprague, Caine, Finch, Jett, Gilick, Duff, Nickerson and Elsom all lead the congregation in later years. As John Kollath remembers, "The church had a high ceiling, and a pump organ from which the music sounded wonderful." By 1946, the Baptist Church had been closed, except for funeral services, and a yearly homecoming service that was held on the first Sunday in June. In 1954, the church was struck by lightning and it partially burned. At that time there were only four members of the congregation. They were, Blanch Kollath, Blanch Moore, Arthur Moore, and Adeline Mitchell. The bell had been cracked in the fire, but it was removed from the wreckage and sold to Kenneth Belde.
Zwingli
The Mt. Vernon Swiss Reformed Church and its congregation date back to 1888. In February, 1912, under the leadership of Reverend Elliker, the Zwingli Mt. Vernon congregation consisting of about 20 families, mostly Swiss farmers and cheese makers, was formed. The name, Zwingli, was the name of one of the leading Reformation preachers in Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli. In the spring of 1912, Rev. Fred W. Hoernemann accepted a call to serve Mt. Vernon in addition to two other churches. He lived in Belleville, and an old horse, Billy, provided the transportation. His yearly salary was $700 plus supplied living quarters.
Without a suitable place to worship in Mt. Vernon, the first services were held in the church of the Evangelical Association which was located two miles east of Mt. Vernon at the intersection of County Highway G and Messerschmidt Road. On July 13, 1913, the church was struck by lightening and burned to the ground. For the next year, the Zwingli congregation used the Baptist Church on Jackson Street in Mt. Vernon, which had been organized in 1869, to hold its services in. The Baptist Church also was destroyed by fire in 1954.
On November 16, 1913, the Zwingli Swiss Reformed congregation voted to build its own church. In the spring of 1914, construction began on the land donated by August Koch. With the donated labor of church members and $5,437.00, the church was built and completed in February, 1915. The original services were held in the German language. Reverend Hoernemann was followed by pastors Walter Grosshuesch, George Grether, Herman Lehman, Walter Clausing, Zane Pautz, George Bahner, Terry Williams, Paul Scheler, James Eckblad, Brooke Wichleff, Douglas Pierce, Barbara Rudolph (from Germany) and the present pastor, Jeff Sartain.
After several denominational mergers had taken place, it was on June 25, 1957, that the Mt. Vernon Church became known as Zwingli United Church of Christ. The church presently draws its 120 members from Mt. Vernon and the surrounding communities. For the year of 1993, the church hosted a visiting pastor from Germany, Rev. Barbara Rudolph.
On July 29, 1979, an addition was built onto the church. In 1940, because of deterioration, the original steeple had to be removed. In the summer of 1995, an entirely new roof was added to replace the old tin roof, and in September a beautiful new steeple was built and mounted onto the new roof of the church. The steeple was built by a 35-year member of the church, John Beutler. The new steeple was placed on the church September 12, 1995. Dave Nelson hoisted the steeple up with his crane, and Wayne Klosterman and Doug Dahlk placed and secured the new steeple. The steeple project was the last work of John Beutler, he died on March 27, 1996.