St. Paul’s had it’s beginning on June 11, 1906. At this first meeting of organization, a constitution was adopted. The first service was held at the Waterloo City Hall on July 1, 1906. On August 26, 41 charter members celebrated communion, elected the first council, and installed Reverend A. C. Peterson as their pastor.
Land was purchased in 1908 and a church was built. It was later dedicated in 1909. Seminary students served the congregation from November 1909 until June 1911. Pastors serving from June 1911 to September 1928 included C. P. Weiskotten, E. T. Finck, J. M. Ramsey and C. A. Kipps.
In December 1928, the Reverend F. O. Broesicke became pastor. The decision to remodel was made in 1930. The Women’s Missionary Society presented the gift of a new organ, which was dedicated to the church. In 1945, the interior of the church was decorated.
The Reverend Louis Piehl served at St. Paul’s from 1947 until 1952, when the Reverend Leroy Futscher assumed the pastorate until 1955. The Reverend Donald Wandersee became pastor in 1956 and in September, the congregation celebrated it’s 50th anniversary. The property adjacent to the church was purchased in 1961. Kenneth Walstrom became pastor in 1963. In 1964, the present parsonage was built and dedicated.
The Reverend Gerald Goodrich became pastor in 1967. In 1972, the interior of the church was extensively remodeled, an addition was added and the parking lot was constructed. Reverend James Kannenberg served the church beginning in 1976. In June of 1981, the 75th anniversary of the church was celebrated.
From August 1987, through August 1989, St. Paul’s was privileged to have two seminary students as interns: James Bump and Mark Bartusch.
A new parking lot was added to the south end of the church in 1988. Special services were held on May 15, 1988, to help Pastor Kannenberg celebrate 25 years in ministry.
The 85th anniversary was held in 1991. Pastor Kannenberg retired in 1998. In 1999, Pastor Robb Kosky came to St. Paul’s.
A building project with a new entry to the back and remodeling in the basement took place in 2002. In 2005, remodeling was done to the upper level of the narthex and nave.
St. Paul’s celebrated our 100th anniversary in 2006, and we continue to grow in love and faith for God and His people.
A world-wide Pandemic in 2020 found the St. Paul’s family adjusting to new ways of worship. Pastor Robb Kosky took a call to another church in February 2021. Interim Pastors were hired for the first 6 months, at which time we realized we could no longer afford full-time pastoral services. In October of 2021 we retained the services of a part-time Interim Pastor. The Call Committee was doing the work to begin the process of calling a new Pastor.
In early 2022 the opportunity to explore a shared Pastor arrangement with another church presented itself to the Council. The Call Committee was then paused, and a Joint Ministry Team was formed with members of St. Paul’s and Bristol Lutheran. Our Interim Pastor, Robert Moberg, also participated in this journey, along with Bristol’s Pastor Tim Knipfer.
In July of 2022 both church congregations made the historic decision to share the services of Pastor Tim Knipfer beginning in September of 2022. Each church is still a separate congregation, we simply share the time of Pastor Tim on a 50/50 basis. We were also blessed to be able to continue with Pastor Bob Moberg in a 1/4 time capacity. The two Pastors work well together in making sure our congregation members’ needs are met. The two churches have begun to enjoy participating in each others’ events as well. For the time being, we are alternating Sunday service times on a 4-month rotational basis. If there is a month with a 5th Sunday, we share one joint service at 9 AM at either St Paul’s or Bristol.