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How it all began...
In the early 1870s, a group of families moved from Illinois and Minnesota and settled in the northwestern part of Adams County, Nebraska. In 1880, a pastor who was stationed in Grand Island, visited them and began conducting divine services for them, first in their homes, and then in the Hayland Public School House.
1881 Rev E. Flach, pastor at Wanda, took charge of this mission station. January 23, 1882, these families organized as Christ Lutheran Church. The following were charter members of Christ Lutheran: Fred Ernest, Julius Kroll, Carl Kroll, Fred Vollmer, Henry Augustin, Sr., Jacob Struss, Ludwig Lisius, Fred Alms, Jacob Ruhter, William Vollmer, Ludwig Katzberg, and Rudolph Meyer. The spoken language was German and all the minutes and records of these times were written in German and required translation to learn about the history of the church and school.
When the Hayland School House became too small, changes began to happen. 1886 – Five acres of land were purchased. (The land is the present Concordia Cemetery.) 1888-A house of worship was built for Christ Lutheran Congregation on land that is now Concordia Cemetary. Dimensions were 20′ x 30′ and 12′ high with an 8′ x 8‘ entryway. Money received for church building totaled $746.69. Expenses for the church building were $743.55. Balance on hand $3.14.
1890-Rev A. Mueller, a candidate of St Louis Seminary, accepted a call to Christ Lutheran Church. In addition to his pastoral duties, Pastor Mueller began teaching the children, marking the birth of Christ Lutheran School. The new church was used as the school during the week.
1899 – 1900: Construction of a new house of worship began in 1899 and was dedicated Feb 11, 1900 on 2 acres of land purchased from W. Pratt with additional 1 acre of land from Gustav Berg. The old church on the cemetery plot was now used exclusively for school purposes.
1903 – A new parsonage was built to replace the house that was on the property when it was purchased. 1903 – Mr Robert Zohner accepted a call to serve as the first permanent teacher for Christ Lutheran School. He resigned in 1906. Following the resignation of Teacher Zohner, the Called Pastor again resumed the role of the school teacher in addition to his duties as Pastor.
1909 – The school building was moved from the cemetery site to the present church property.
1919 – Nebraska state law made it impossible for our pastor to continue teaching school. There was discussion at this time to close CLS as no teacher was available. A vicar, Martin Gassner from Concordia Seminary came to finish teaching the school year.
1929 – Electricity was installed on the church property. 1929 – Hard times came to Christ Lutheran Church and School, beginning in 1929 with the stock market crash and the great drought or Dust Bowl days in the Great Plains. The pastor, Rev Hoffmann and teachers, Tiemann and Brase served during these times with no pay.
1952 – After an issue with the coal stoker furnace resulting in ash and smoke being driven throughout the school, the heating system is converted to oil and bathroom toilets were installed as well.
1960 – The decision was made to build a new house of worship.
1979 – A new school and gym was built onto the present house of worship.
1994 – The new parsonage was built. 1999 – The new teacherage was built.
God continues to bless us today just as He did our forefathers.
Please contact us to learn more, as we are happy to answer your questions and connect you with the right resources.
