-
The Lutheran Hour was and
continues to be a strong Christian message on radio that
-
attracts a vast listening
audience. With this as a backdrop, the Rev. Katz was in charg
-
of developing Lutheran
Missions in the Greater Cleveland area.
-
In 1928, Rev. Katz had a
discussion with Sallie O'Bryant, a domestic worker in his
home,
-
.regarding the possibility of
starting a Black Lutheran mission in the Cleveland area.
-
The first meeting was held in
her home at 6012 Kinsman. Later in 1928 the Mission was
-
organized into a congregation,
with Pastor Huffenberger being sent to pastor the mission
-
for a short period of
time.
-
Rev. Ernst Mueller, a
missionary at heart, became the pastor of the congregation in
1929.
-
Under Pastor Mueller's
leadership, the congregation chose to move into a school house
behind
-
St. Peter's Sanctuary, a
church located at East 79th Street and Sherman Avenue. In 1938,
-
St. Philip purchased the
entire property from the Women's Missionary
Society.
-
In 1945, after laying the
foundation for a solid congregation, Pastor Mueller accepted a
call to
-
Canada, some ninety miles from
his birth place. This left the church without a pastor, for
about
-
one year.
-
At this time the war was
coming to a close, and many soldiers were returning to their
homes.
-
In April of 1946, Reverend
Luther E. Robinson, an Army chaplain with the rank of Captain,
was
-
called as the pastor of
St. Philip Lutheran Church.
- History of St. Philip
Evangelical Lutheran Church
- The Lutheran Hour was and
continues to be a strong Christian message on radio that
attracts
- a vast listening audience. With
this as a backdrop, the Rev. Katz was in charge of developing
- Lutheran Missions in the
Greater Cleveland area.
- In 1928, Rev. Katz had a
discussion with Sallie O'Bryant, a domestic worker in his home,.
- regarding the possibility of
starting a Black Lutheran mission in the Cleveland area. The
- first meeting was held in her
home at 6012 Kinsman. Later in 1928 the Mission was organized
- into a congregation, with
Pastor Huffenberger being sent to pastor the mission for a short
- period of time.
- Rev. Ernst Mueller, a
missionary at heart, became the pastor of the congregation in
1929.
- Under Pastor Mueller's
leadership, the congregation chose to move into a school house
- behind St. Peter's Sanctuary, a
church located at East 79th Street and Sherman Avenue.
- In 1938, St. Philip purchased
the entire property from the Women's Missionary Society.
- In 1945, after laying the
foundation for a solid congregation, Pastor Mueller accepted a
call
- to Canada, some ninety miles
from his birth place. This left the church without a pastor,
- for about one year.
- At this time the war was coming
to a close, and many soldiers were returning to their homes.
- In April of 1946, Reverend
Luther E. Robinson, an Army chaplain with the rank of Captain,
- was called as the pastor
of St. Philip Lutheran Church.
-
- Under the leadership of Pastor
Robinson St. Philip broke ground for our present building in
- 1957 and. St. Philip became a
self-supporting congregation in 1960. One of Rev. Robinson's
- greatest strengths was
his firm commitment for equality among all Lutherans. He was i
- nstrumental in pushing for and
being accepted into the Central District of the Missouri
- Synod as a congregation and as
its minister. In 1961, after 17 years as Pastor of
- St. Philip, Rev. Robinson
accepted a call to Cincinnati, Ohio.
- In the 1960's our country was
undergoing many rapid changes. The bid for Black equality
- in this nation was led by
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Lord once again blessed
- this congregation by sending us
another shepherd who was relevant for the times in which
- we lived. In October, 1963,
Pastor Floyd T. McAdoo came to us from Jacksonville, Florida.
- Under his leadership much
of the renovation of our present sanctuary took place.
- Rev. McAdoo led our
congregation for twenty-two years. Not only was Rev. McAdoo an
- inspirational preacher with
respect to doctrine and scripture, but he was an activist in
- the Civil Rights movements. His
ability to relate to all ages, was outstanding. One of
- his most memorable achievements
was to equip the lay members of our congregation to
- do the job that God would have
them to do. Also under his leadership St. Philip was able
- to call a vicar, Lloyd
Gaines. But to his, and our misfortune, a disease robbed
- Rev. McAdoo of much of his
eyesight, and he retired from the active ministry to
- return to his hometown of
Greensboro, North Carolina.
- Still our congregation was
under the blessing of the Lord, for Vicar Lloyd Gaines,
- after his graduation, became
our pastor in 1984 and led our congregation for four years.
- In 1988, Pastor Gaines
accepted a call to Washington, D.C. which left St. Philip again
- without a pastor.
Following Pastor Gaines departure, God sent the Reverend Edward
Hessler
- as vacancy pastor. He
served in this capacity until 1990.
- After much searching by our
Call Committee The Reverend Bertram B. Lewis, who had
- served in various lay positions
in his home congregation, Our Savior, in Indianapolis,
- Indiana accepted our call.
Pastor Lewis graduated from Fort Wayne Theological
- Seminary in 1990. He was
officially installed as pastor of St. Philip on June 24, 1990.
- During his tenure and under his
leadership five men in our congregation were moved by
- the Holy Spirit to become
ministers in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. They are
- the Reverends Hosea Ekong,
Larry Frazier, Richard Robinson and Lay Minister George
- Wilcox. Presently Seminarian
Bryan Reeves is working on his ministerial degree at Fort
- Wayne Theological Seminary. In
October of 2000, St. Philip was again without a shepherd,
- as Pastor Lewis accepted a call
to another congregation.
- However, the Lord continued to
bless our congregation as we were served by some
- outstanding vacancy pastors.
Pastor Edward Zacharias, Pastor Timothy Landskroener,
- and Pastor James Jasper. Pastor
Alton Bruning filled our pulpit for over a year
- preaching the Word in all its
truth and purity. A special recognition must be given to
- Pastor Bruning who, though at
times in great physical pain, also served in the capacity
- of District Counselor until
moving out of state.
- The Lord has continued to send
dedicated shepherds to us such as Pastor Alan Trapp
- (pastor of St. John Lutheran
Church, South Euclid) who served as a replacement for
- Pastor Bruning. He consistently
made sure we received the Word each Sunday preached
- in purity and truth. We are now
under the spiritual guidance of Pastor Jeffrey Stephens
- of St. Peter's Lutheran Church,
Shaker Heights who not only provides us with spiritual
- guidance but who will also
assist us in another Call Process as we continually pray for
- and seek our own shepherd. In
addition the Reverend John Vitello is ably and fervently
- serving as our Assisting
Pastor. He has been a source of many inspiring and spirit-filled
- sermons. Through the years God
has never forsaken us and He has great plans for us as
- we continue to work in His
kingdom.
-
-
Under the leadership of Pastor
Robinson St. Philip broke ground
-
for our present building
in 1957 and. St. Philip became a
-
self-supporting
congregation in 1960. One of Rev. Robinson's
-
greatest strengths was his
firm commitment for equality among
-
all Lutherans. He was
instrumental in pushing for and being
-
accepted into the Central
District of the Missouri Synod as
-
a congregation and as its
minister. In 1961, after 17 years as Pastor of St. Philip,
-
Rev. Robinson accepted a call
to Cincinnati, Ohio.
-
In the 1960's our country was
undergoing many rapid changes. The bid for Black equality
-
in this nation was led by the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Lord once again blessed
this
-
congregation by sending us
another shepherd who was relevant for the times in which we
lived.
-
In October, 1963, Pastor
Floyd T. McAdoo came to us from Jacksonville, Florida.
-
Under his leadership much of
the renovation of our present sanctuary took place.
-
Rev. McAdoo led our
congregation for twenty-two years. Not only was Rev. McAdoo an
-
inspirational preacher with
respect to doctrine and scripture, but he was an activist in the
-
Civil Rights movements. His
ability to relate to all ages, was outstanding. One of his most
-
memorable achievements was to
equip the lay members of our congregation to do the job
-
that God would have them to
do. Also under his leadership St. Philip was able to call a
vicar,
-
Lloyd Gaines. But to
his, and our misfortune, a disease robbed Rev. McAdoo of much of
his
-
eyesight, and he retired from
the active ministry to return to his hometown of Greensboro,
-
North Carolina.
-
Still our congregation was
under the blessing of the Lord, for Vicar Lloyd Gaines, after
his
-
graduation, became our pastor
in 1984 and led our congregation for four years. In 1988,
-
Pastor Gaines accepted a call
to Washington, D.C. which left St. Philip again without a
pastor.
-
Following Pastor Gaines
departure, God sent the Reverend Edward Hessler as vacancy
pastor.
-
He served in this capacity
until 1990.
-
After much searching by our
Call Committee The Reverend Bertram B. Lewis, who had served
-
in various lay positions in
his home congregation, Our Savior, in Indianapolis, Indiana
accepted
-
our call. Pastor Lewis
graduated from Fort Wayne Theological Seminary in 1990. He was
-
officially installed as pastor
of St. Philip on June 24, 1990. During his tenure and under his
l
-
eadership five men in our
congregation were moved by the Holy Spirit to become ministers
in
-
the Lutheran Church Missouri
Synod. They are the Reverends Hosea Ekong, Larry Frazier,
-
Richard Robinson and Lay
Minister George Wilcox. Presently Seminarian Bryan Reeves is
working
-
on his ministerial degree at
Fort Wayne Theological Seminary. In October of 2000,
-
St. Philip was again without a
shepherd, as Pastor Lewis accepted a call to another
congregation.
-
However, the Lord continued to
bless our congregation as we were served by some outstanding
-
vacancy pastors. Pastor Edward
Zacharias, Pastor Timothy Landskroener, and Pastor James
Jasper.
-
Pastor Alton Bruning
filled our pulpit for over a year preaching the Word in all its
truth and purity.
-
A special recognition
must be given to Pastor Bruning who, though at times in great
physical pain,
-
also served in the
capacity of District Counselor until moving out of
state.
-
The Lord has continued to send
dedicated shepherds to us such as Pastor Alan Trapp
-
(pastor of St. John Lutheran
Church, South Euclid) who served as a replacement for Pastor
-
Bruning. He consistently made
sure we received the Word each Sunday preached in purity and
truth.
-
We are now under the
spiritual guidance of Pastor Jeffrey Stephens of St. Peter's
Lutheran Church,
-
Shaker Heights who not
only provides us with spiritual guidance but who will also
assist us in another
-
Call Process as we continually
pray for and seek our own shepherd. In addition the Reverend
John Vitello
-
is ably and fervently serving
as our Assisting Pastor. He has been a source of many inspiring
and
-
spirit-filled sermons. Through
the years God has never forsaken us and He has great plans for
-
us as we continue to work in
His kingdom.
This is a Work
Copie
