The Chronicle of Zion Lutheran Church
Bridgeport, Connecticut
The original Church Register included sections for, Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths and for a Chronicle of the Church. The Pastors of the church would write about the events that occurred during their times there. The chronicle was written in German. The following is a translation made in the early 1970s by Mrs. Margaret Connock.
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1892 The names of the Pastors are; Pastor Steup, Feth, Hebler, Schönfeld, Heintze, Schröder, Keyl, Heck, Luhr, W. Fischer, Stein, E. Fischer, Gross, and candidate of Theology, A. Poppe. Now there were 30 to 100 worshipers. Our Church service took place in a lodge hall. On July 24 We held the sacred installation Service of Missionary F. E. Tilly. Pastor A. Tilly and P. W. A. Fischer completed the ordination. – On July 31 the Missionary preached his final Sermon before beginning his Missionary Activities. On August 7th twelve children were confirmed they were instructed by pastor E. Fischer and the Missionary. Three church services took place in the first Presbyterian Church, State Street and Myrtle Avenue. – On the 13th of August we had the first Holy Communion Service. Pastor Steup and F. E. Tilly helped us to get a mission and 35 men signed and voted in the constitution regarding Missions and Mission work. Our Mission Church began to bloom and prosper greatly this was the end of August. – We now started a Sunday School and we soon had 130 pupils attending. – Next our women formed a Ladies Aid Society. On October 13th worshipers came in great numbers We were happy and thankful to God for what we did accomplish. We also had a nice Reformation Service. (part not translated) Since 13 Aug services were held in the Parish Hall of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
But in the beginning of December dark clouds began to appear over our newly formed Mission, and great unrest and worry began to trouble us. – The cause of our trouble was The Lodge question, The Missionaries and the Synod simply stated that all memberships in Lodges and Secret Societies should be forbidden. The Lodge question was taken up in the January meeting, Pastor Steup and W. Fischer attended. After a long debate, they said “Let us use the Word of God for light on the subject and not just condemn the Lodge members.” So it was decided to have a Sermon on the following Sunday explaining what the Bible has to say. On the 15th of January at a meeting the Sermon was read to those present. It created great trouble. Some were for Masonry and the Lodges, others against. The Pastor said he could not deny his God and that he would continue to witness against these lodges, who deny our Lord Jesus, and further witness to all, that our Bible has condemned all false religions.