St. Peter's Lutheran Church

Location

4265 SW Golf Course Rd.
Cornelius, OR 97113
503.357.3863

History

St. Peter's Lutheran Church traces its beginning to a number of German immigrants who had settled about two miles south of the town of Cornelius, Oregon.  The Rev. Edward Döring had been sent by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod to minister to the German settlers arriving in Oregon and he discovered this small group.  He served as the first pastor of St. Peters while also serving the congregation of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in nearby Sherwood.  On 7 May 1882, it was resolved to organize a congregation, and a constitution was adopted on 2 July 1882.

Among the original founders of the congregation were the following Volga German families who had arrived in Oregon in 1881 from Kansas:

Heinrich Scheuermann
Adam Hergert
Philipp Hergert

The first worship services were held in the log cabin of Mrs. Christine Kraus.  As the number of those attending the services grew, the congregation moved to increasingly larger homes until a church building was completed in 1883.  A steeple was added in 1893.  A new church building was constructed in 1923.  Services were conducted in German until 1918.

A new building, the congregation's third, was dedicated on 5 February 1989.

Pastors

St. Peter's Lutheran Church has been served by the following pastors:

Edward K. Döring (1882-1887)
Carl Moritz Claus (1887-1889)
Henry August Carl Paul (1889-1900)
Ludwig Stuebe (1900-1930)
Everard W. Hinrichs (1930-1943)
Arthur Bohlmann (1943-1945)
Otto Henry Moeller (1945-1967)
Alfred L. Enders (1967-1975)
Arthur Dey (1975-1984)
Lawrence Locke (1984-1990)
Donald P. Tonack (1990-1992)
George Biersdorf Putnam (1992-2002)
Michael G. Warmbier (2003-)

St. Peter's has also been served by the following vicars:

Donald E. Hinricks (1935-1936)
Tim Varity (1980-1981)
Bill Lahrman (1981-1982)
Lawrence Locke (1982-1983)
Jim Wasmuth (1996-1997)