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A
Brief History of Prince of Peace
Rev.
Donald Sandmann was called to the Hamburg area as a missionary-at-large
by the Atlantic District of the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod. A number of congregations were planned,
or already being formed by the Synod in New Jersey at this time.
Congregations in Pompton Lakes, Montville, Oak Ridge and elsewhere
were all begun in the 1960's.
Rev.
Sandmann and his wife, Marilyn made their home in the Pennyrock
section of Hamburg. He came newly graduated from Concordia Seminary
in St. Louis. (Later Dr. Sandmann would become our district's
second president.) The first meetings were held in the parsonage,
Sandmann's work consisted of canvassing the growing communities
of Hardyston, Hamburg, Franklin and Sussex, gathering together
interested families.
The
first worship service was held the Sunday after Christmas, December
29, 1963. Not surprisingly, Pastor Sandmann preached on Isaiah
9:6, from which the congregation takes its name, "Prince
of Peace." The congregation met for Sunday worship in the
All Purpose Room of the Hardyston Elementary School on Route 23
in Franklin until December 13, 1970. That was the date the present
building was dedicated.
The
tract of land on Wheatsworth Road and Highway 94, on which Prince
of Peace now sits was purchased and the present sanctuary was
built in 1970. This was done with the help and prayers of the
Lutheran Church Extension Fund, AAL (now Thrivent), the Atlantic
District, the Lutheran Women's Missionary League, and many well
meaning friends and hard working members of the congregation.
The Atlantic District then encompassed New England, Long Island,
New Jersey and the Hudson Valley region of New York. In the mid-1970s
it was broken up into three smaller districts. The unique nature
of New Jersey, between New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore,
makes it the only district in the Synod that is a whole state.
In
January of 1971 Pr. Sandmann received a call to Melrose,
IL. He left Prince of Peace in March. Our second Pastor, Rev.Philip
Bruening was installed May 23, 1971. His wife, Alice, with other
church members started the "Prince of Peace Nursery School"
in 1975. Today the Early
Learning Center consists of about 75 Children, from Toddler
through Kindergarten.
During
this time the Mission Circle came into being. Edna Meyer began
the ladies making quilts for Lutheran World Relief. Later the
Mission Circle's ministry became the Thrift Shop which was open
every Thursday morning and afternoon. The Thrift Shop, when open,
engulfed the front room (then called the parlor), the narthex,
and the small conference room (now the church office) which was
intended as a coat closet. The ladies gathered and sold used clothing
and small household items. The funds they generated helped to
pay the mortgage. The Thrift Shop was in existence for about 15
years. It was an important gathering place. Many people in the
community remember it fondly.
Pr.
Bruening's last service was February 19, 1978. In October of that
year, Rev. Richard Izzard was installed as Prince of Peace's third
Pastor. Pr. Izzard, his wife Eileen, and their children came to
us from Redeemer Lutheran in Fords, N.J. He remained until 1984.
In the winter of 1985 Prince of Peace called Rev. Stephen Vogt
as its fourth minister. He and Caren, with their daughters Katie
and Naomi came from Immanuel Lutheran Church, Osman, Illinois
In
the 1980's the Synod's new hymnal, Lutheran Worship came
to Prince of Peace. In 1989 the congregation tackled the leaky
roof by replacing the flat roof with a pitched one, most of the
labor provided by the men of the congregation. It sold the Hamburg
parsonage and built a new one on Wheatsworth Road. In the 1980s
the N.J. District ceased its subsidy for Prince of Peace and the
congregation learned to stand on its own. Over the years the school
had several directors, including Mrs. Caren Vogt. Under Mrs. Joan
Kuehm the preschool became the Early Learning Center and added
a kindergarten program.
Today
Prince of Peace continues to be part of the community. We hold
blood drawings, provide space for the Girl Scouts, collect for
a local food pantry, and donate gifts to needy children at Christmas.
Rummage sales are a lot of fun. We've collected backpacks for
Lutheran Social
Ministries, diapers for Today's
Choice (a Christian pregnancy center), an pillows for the
Hospitality Network. When the Twin Towers were attacked, Prince
of Peace became a collection center for medical supplies, clothing,
food and other items needed by the rescue workers. The members
of the prayer circle pray for our needs as often as they are summoned.
This
brief history of Prince of Peace does not include a great many
people, many still living, who worked very hard to make this ministry
work. To begin to name them would mean we forgot others, or weren't
grateful to their gifts. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Each person has been entrusted by God with gifts and abilities,
which they are to use for building up the body of Christ, (1 Corinthians
1:7, 7,7) No one's gift is insignificant.
In
a few places there are names of towns and churches mentioned,
places which lost a pastor to Prince of Peace, places which called
ours away. In the life of any congregation this is a normal occurrence.
It reminds us that Prince of Peace is part of an old family of
congregations called the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (founded
1847). We are part of that mission, bringing the Good News of
Jesus Christ into every corner of the globe.
May
our gracious Lord continue to inspire and encourage us by the
faithful preaching of the Word. And may it be God's will to use
us for another forty years to receive our praises, prayers and
gifts of service. To the Lord Jesus be glory now and always..
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