(From Mineola American Courtesy Lutheran Church of Our Savior)
The Lutheran Church of Our Saviour will celebrate its 101st anniversary on March 27.
In 1921, Mineola was mostly farm country. Houses of worship also served as social centers of the village. As the village blossomed, so did the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour.
The small group of Lutherans that worshipped in the home of Katherine Ebehard grew and soon needed its own chapel. The wooden building that served both as a chapel and parsonage was built by Adam Haab, a local contractor. By the early 1930s it too was outgrown and the current building on Jefferson and Willis Avenues was constructed. For a while, the old chapel was used as a parish hall until 1956 when it was sold to the Village of Mineola for $1 and moved to Second Street, where it still stands as the PBC building.
The church’s Christian Day School, which originally met in the basement of the parish hall, also flourished and became Nassau Lutheran School and a new building was erected on Washington Avenue. As the years went by, it suffered the fate of other parochial schools. The enrollment went down and the school had to close. This building too was sold to the village, definitely not for a dollar, and is now the Village Hall and Community Center. Noah’s Ark Pre-School was born and met in the church’s parish hall.
Throughout its history, the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour has remained true to its purpose as a mission church, supporting local missions and missions outside of the confines of the village. It serves as the home of the Lutheran Counseling Center, Lutheran Braille Workers, Faith Mission Food Pantry and is in partnership with Beacon House, the latter offering temporary housing to homeless veterans and their families.
A special service of thanksgiving for 101 years of God’s grace will take place at 10 a.m. on March 27. All are welcome to attend.
—Submitted by the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour
