Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, located at 3497 County Rd. 424 in Antwerp, Ohio, is celebrating what they have termed the “50/500.” The present church building was erected and completed in September 1967, making 2017 a marker of 50 years of ministry at the present location in the Antwerp community. Further, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (1517-2017) being celebrated worldwide will also be recognized by the local church. It was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther, a monk/reformer of the Roman Catholic Church posted his 95 Thesis on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. The Lutheran Church today proclaims that the Reformation is STILL all about Jesus, preaching and teaching God’s Word and the good news of salvation by grace alone, faith alone, and word alone.
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church was founded in 1939 under the leadership of Rev. W. H. Werling. (Pastor Werling was a maternal uncle of Ken Hahn and Kathy Hahn Gormely, current residents of Antwerp. Their father and mother, Gilbert and Donna Hahn were also instrumental in the advancement of the congregation in the community and the construction of the current building). The village of Antwerp’s population in 1939 was 1000, an old canal and river town lying on the Maumee River. On the morning of Christmas Eve that year, the first service was held in the “chapel-in-the-air” on the second floor of the Starr Theater in downtown Antwerp. The room rent was $5 per month.
Eight families were present that Christmas Eve. Charter members were Mr. and Mrs. Merton Bell, Sr. and family, Mrs. Golda Peffley and family, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Schoenike and family, Mrs. A. Bruner and Abbie and Minnie Smith. The congregation later met in a store front on West Main St. When it rained, buckets were placed in strategic places.
Property and a “Quonset” building were purchased on the corner of Madison and Woodcox Street in 1951, where the current Antwerp Branch of the Paulding County Carnegie Library system is now located. The little chapel was prepared and dedicated as Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in 1951. Land was purchased in 1964 for a new church site on U.S. 24, west of Antwerp. The present building was dedicated on September 10, 1967. Current Antwerp residents who attended that dedication include Harold Bell, Kathy Jones, Keith Nern, Peggy Savage, and Pam Zartman.
A succession of pastors have guided Mount Calvary’s souls. They include Rev. Otto W. Tolke, Rev. H.C. Meister, Rev. E.A.H. Jacobs, Rev. Christian Schmidt, Rev. Kenneth Mueller, Rev. Lanny Zup, and first full time pastor, Rev. Harold Bode who was instrumental in the 1967 building process. Rev. Harvey Mozalak, Rev. John Chovan and Rev. Dale Young followed. The congregation is presently led by Rev. Derek Evans and is a joint parish with Zion Lutheran Church, Bull Rapids.
Today’s members of Mt. Calvary will be re-dedicating themselves to ministry on September 17, 2017 at 10:15 a.m. with a special service featuring music by the Kantorei from the Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Ft. Wayne. Rev. Aaron West, son of the congregation presently serving at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Greensburg, IN will be the liturgist and Rev. Derek Evans will deliver the sermon. Special offerings for the Building Fund will be received. All are welcome to attend the service and coffee hour preceding at the church. After the service, a fellowship meal and program will be held at Grant’s Catering in Antwerp. The meal is by reservation only (300 tickets will be sold) due to space limitations.
Services are held Sunday mornings at 10:15 with a Sunday School for all ages at 9:15. Bible Study is on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Catechism classes are weekly during the school year. Vacation Bible School is in the summer. A special video series on Martin Luther begins on September 24. All are welcome to attend at any of these times.
Mt. Calvary members are active participants in the community during Antwerp’s Day in the Park, fund raising for the local ball association and Antwerp band uniforms, collections for the food bank and foreign medical missions and a ministry at Van Crest in Antwerp. There is also a local branch of Lutheran Women Missionary League that contributes to a number of causes inside and outside of the church through its annual “Pie Sunday” fundraiser.
The church has been planning the 50/500 for over eighteen months. Special guest choirs have participated in a variety of services in the past year and there have been plenty of potlucks! Members and friends of the congregation have enjoyed fall family fun nights, a St. Patrick Day bingo party and a chicken bbq for the community. Contact the church office at 419.258.6505 for more information on the 50/500 or any church programming. And remember, it’s STILL all about Jesus!
