Emanuel Lutheran Church is at 2174 S. County Road 750E, Seymour.
Submitted photo
Emanuel Lutheran Church is planning a special service to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church’s annex at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
Pastor Scott Kozisek, who served the Dudleytown church from 2005 through 2013, will be the guest preacher.
Drinks and doughnuts will be served after the service, and a door offering will be accepted for a mission church in Haiti.
In the 1960s, the church — established in 1857 — owned many buildings, including the church, school and parsonage. These buildings were all located on the west side of the road. A teacherage, a garage for the teacher and a parish hall were located on the east side of the road.
Since all of the buildings were in use, they were often hard to heat, and Sunday school children and others had to cross the road to get to their destinations.
A building committee was created in 1969 to find ways to consolidate all of the church buildings on the west side of the road. The committee members were Chairman Waldron Breummer, William Lambring, Harold Klinge, Henry Bobb, Norman Goecker and Omer Bobb.
The final decision to build an annex for the church was made Aug. 8, 1971, and Goecker Building Supply in Seymour won the bid to complete construction at $92,184. The school was razed in August 1971 to make way for construction of the annex, but the school bell still stands on the east side of the annex to commemorate the school.
Construction of the annex officially was underway in September 1971. A dedicatory service was held in September 1972 with District Vice President Robert Meier of Indianapolis as the speaker. The Rev. Mildenburger was the pastor at the time.
When all was said and done, the total cost of the building was more than $100,000, and many items were donated by congregation members.
David B. Hill and Associates was the architect for the building, and Earl Goecker with Goecker Building Supply oversaw the construction of the annex.
Ronald Krumme, a lifetime member of the church, and fellow church member Gordon Kovener also helped with the construction of the annex.
The mortgage on the annex was paid off in October 1977, and the church went through a major renovation shortly after the annex was complete. During that project, which required replacing the floor joists in the church because of damage caused by termites, services were held in the annex.