Jehovah celebrates 100th

Jehovah Evangelical Lutheran Church is observing its centennial with celebrations on five separate Sundays, beginning Reformation Sunday, Oct. 29.
The congregation, a Midway mainstay, has chosen as its centennial theme “100 Years of Grace: Walking Together at Jehovah Lutheran.”
Other celebration events will be in 2024: Transfiguration Sunday, Feb. 11; Pentecost Sunday, May 19; Rally Sunday, Sept. 8; and again on Reformation Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.
The community is invited to all, especially family and friends of members and former members. The church is at 1566 Thomas Ave. in St. Paul.
Guest preachers are scheduled on three celebration dates: the Rev. Lucas Woodford, president of the Minnesota South District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS); and two pastors who served the congregation in the past, the Rev. Tom Trapp and the Rev. Bob Benke. Pastor Joshua Miller has served the congregation since 2020.
Jehovah Lutheran’s century in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood began in 1923 when founding members first met for worship in the upper level of a feed store near Snelling and Minnehaha, near the church’s present location.
The congregation’s first church building opened at Snelling and Thomas in 1924.
The original structure became the congregation’s education wing when members erected a larger adjacent sanctuary in 1928. The current church building laid its cornerstone in 1963.
The church now is also home to the St. Paul Outreach Center (SPOC), launched this year as a multi-congregation initiative with Concordia University-St. Paul and the LCMS Minnesota South District. SPOC plans to offer homework help and after-school activities for neighborhood youth and families and link neighborhood volunteer sponsors with immigrants and international students to assist with English and other newcomer needs.