History of St Paul – First 50 Years, 1873-1923

Sources: St. Paul Lutheran 1943 Dedication Service Booklet, St. Paul Lutheran 125th Anniversary Booklet, History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Detroit and Vicinity, A History of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

From its humble beginnings in 1873 to the present, the history of St. Paul Lutheran Church is filled with examples of how God has blessed and led this congregation to be His people here in Royal Oak.

St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Royal Oak, MI, was first organized in 1873 under the leadership of Rev. George Speckhard. He had been called from Sebewaing, MI, by an Association of Missouri Synod congregations. Their mission was to establish an Evangelical Lutheran Orphanage in the Detroit area, led by Rev. J.A. Huegli. 

Rev. Speckhard was formerly a teacher for the deaf in Germany. He brought with him two deaf children from Sebewaing when coming to Royal Oak in order to continue his instruction with them in the Christian religion by means of sign language.  

When it became known that he was giving religious instruction in sign language, it was requested that he accept other deaf children for instruction. Within 10 months, 15 deaf children had been brought to him. As a result of this, the Association decided to establish an Evangelical Lutheran Deaf Mute Institute instead of an orphanage. The Association also decided to move the location to North Detroit in 1879, where it still operates today.

In addition to establishing the orphanage that would later become a Lutheran School for the Deaf, Rev. Speckhard organized a congregation under the name of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, as well as the Christian Day School. The first church of the congregation stood on the corner of Main and Third Streets.

The first Lutheran communion service was held on October 5, 1873 with 21 communicants attending. By 1874, the church had 112 baptized members, 21 voting members and 25 school pupils. (In addition to these 25 students, seven orphans attended the school and 12 deaf children were instructed separately.) The church services and school instruction were all in German.

Rev. Speckhard continued to serve the Lutherans of Royal Oak, but without having a full time pastor, the congregation was split. Most of the members voted to leave the Lutheran Church and call a pastor of the Evangelical Church. Only four families remained true to the Lutheran church, and without a church building, met in a home on Sixth and Main Streets for their church services. Later, they rented an old Baptist church on North Main Street, reorganized and changed the name to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. Rev. Speckhard continued to serve the congregation until his death on November 20, 1879.

After the death of Rev. Speckhard, Pastor C.H. Rohe of Detroit shepherded the congregation until 1882, and Pastor K.L. Moll of Detroit then served until 1886. Pastor Julius Zuberbier was called in 1882 to jointly serve both St. Paul, Royal Oak and St. Paul, Clarenceville. It was during his tenure that the chapel was built on Williams Street, a small wooden building measuring 20×36 ft with a 7×10 ft vestibule added later. 

This chapel served both as the house of worship and a school house until 1917, when the construction of the church began on the north-west corner of Fifth Street. On December 5, 1917, the first service was held in the basement of the new church, an Advent service. The chapel continued to be remodeled and in use for the school.

In August of 1887, Pastor Zuberbier left St. Paul, and Pastor Daniel C. Lochner was called from Maryland to take his place as pastor of the Royal Oak and Clarenceville congregations. Because of poor health, he left only a few years later in 1889.

Herman J. Kionka became pastor for both the Royal Oak and Clarenceville congregations from 1889-1893. In 1894, Emil Duerr was called to be the pastor solely for St. Paul, Royal Oak. 

The congregation purchased the land on the south-west corner of Fifth and Williams Streets in 1894 to build a parsonage, with most of the work being done by members themselves. Pastor Duerr and his family were the first to occupy the house until he accepted a new call in 1896 to Wisconsin. 

After Pastor Duerr’s departure, St. Paul Royal Oak had no resident pastor until 1916. In the interim, pastors of Detroit and Pontiac made regular visits to conduct church services and perform other pastoral work. The first of these was Pastor William Burmester of Detroit, who served the Royal Oak congregation from 1897 until his death in 1908. Pastor F. Haeuser of Pontiac served St. Paul 1908-1909 and Pastor Frederick Dreyer of Detroit served from 1910-1916. At this time, the congregation had about 150 baptized members, 100 communicant members and 21 voting members.

Around the year 1910, Royal Oak began to grow very rapidly with a population of about 1,071. During the next ten years, it increased to 6,007. In the same period of time, Royal Oak Township increased its population to 15,432. St. Paul was the only Lutheran Church in Royal Oak Township, from Seven Mile Road north to Pontiac. There were many Lutheran people among the thousands who moved to the Royal Oak area, and wisdom demanded that a resident pastor again be called. With the assistance of the Mission Board of the Michigan District of the Missouri Synod, Pastor Otto H. Frincke was called from Macomb, MI and was installed on September 17, 1916.

The Sunday School was also organized in September 1916 by Mr. Elmer Pfieger as the superintendent. The enrollment, including the Bible Class, was 247.

With the population of the surrounding territory increasing very quickly, the congregation continued to grow as well and the little chapel soon became too small for the ever increasing number of worshipers. Until 1916, German was used for church services almost exclusively. After the population growth, two services were held each Sunday morning, one in German and one in English. 

The members soon realized that a larger and more modern building was an absolute necessity. With the encouragement and support of the Extension Board of Synod, in February 1917 the congregation resolved to build a new church, the goal being within the year.

On April 1, 1917, the plans drawn by architect and Grace Lutheran, Highland Park member Louis Klei were accepted for a brick church to be built in cruciform – meaning in the form of a cross. The upper and the cross beams of the cross were to be built first, with the other beam to be built in later years. The chapel was moved to the north-west corner of the property, the parsonage to the south-east corner, and ground was broken for the new church at the corner of Fifth and Williams Streets in May 1917. The cornerstone was laid on August 12, 1917 by Pastors Adolph Loeber and Herman Metzger, both of Detroit.

The new church was dedicated on the cold, snowy day of January 20, 1918. The total cost of the building with the furnishings amounted to about $35,000 and, of this, the Church Extension Board loaned $32,900 with about 2% interest. The one-manual pipe organ in the church, a gift of Trinity Lutheran Church, Monroe, MI, was installed and dedicated in November 1918. 

In 1920, the congregation began making payments on the debt to the Church Extension Fund, but progress was very slow because of financial difficulties and the depression in the ‘30s. A committee was formed to make a plan to pay off the debt in 1939, but more detail will be included in a future newsletter for St. Paul’s next 50 years from 1923-1973.

While St. Paul’s Christian Day School had been periodically discontinued and restarted throughout the years, the present school was re-established on October 9, 1916 with 21 students the first year, and 32 students the second. The members firmly held the belief that the most important thing they could give their children is a good Christian education, and that the best means of giving such an education is a school in which religion is an essential part of the curriculum. 

Pastor Frincke taught all eight grades for two years, five days a week, for all subjects including religion and optional studies of German reading and writing. Mr. William G. Schulenborg, a graduate of the Lutheran Teachers’ College in River Forest, IL, took charge of the school in September 1918. The school continued to grow, and by January 1, 1922 had an enrollment of 52 pupils.

As we review the past, it is with the words: “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; and His mercy endureth forever.” As we gaze into the future, we pray: “God of mercy and of truth, abide with us.” May God be with us and bless our labors.