Book Description

The story of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is really the story of Lutherans in America. This incredible story unfolds within the History of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oldwick, New Jersey Series. Beginning with that first service in the home of a freed slave on August 1, 1714, the American experience for Lutherans is reflected in the people and events that have shaped and molded Zion. Led by the first ordained Lutheran pastor in America, Rev. Justus Falckner, Zion has been writing a 300 year old narrative that continues today. The stories are rich and varied. Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the Patriarch of American Lutherans, served as one of Zion's pastors, along with his sons, Peter and Henry. Zion, like other Lutheran churches, would be shaped by the Revolutionary War and the mass immigration of the Palatine Germans to America. During the Civil War, Zion's Rev. Jacob Christian Duy, taking a strong stand for the Union, would allow arms to be kept in the parsonage. World War I would leave a deep impact not only on Zion, but on all Lutherans. For Zion, this impact would be reflected in the town changing its name from New Germantown to Oldwick. These are just of few of the stories. There are many more to be told. The three volumes of the History of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oldwick, New Jersey Series capture these stories.Historian Norman C. Wittwer, Jr. (1919-1982) wrote the series' second volume, The Faithful and the Bold: The Story of the First Service of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oldwick, New Jersey, covering the years 1709-1714. This is the story of the founding of Zion. This text examines the people and events that led to Zion's first service on August 1st, 1714. Mr. Wittwer's book was previously published in 1984 by Monocacy Book Company of Redwood City, California. For this second edition, we have reformatted the text and images, but have not edited the first edition's content.Volume three, Children of Salvation: 275 Years: A Brief History of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oldwick, New Jersey, written by Henry H. Murray and Karen J. Murray, picks up where Mr. Wittwer's narrative leaves off. Covering the years 1914 through 1989, this is a valuable record of Zion's pastors, people, and events for this period. This text, originally self published in 1990, is a combination of a 1939 booklet "225 Years: A History of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oldwick, New Jersey," written by Rev. Charles O. Thompson; and the 1990 addition "Zion, The Last Fifty Years (1939-1989)," by Henry H. Murray & Karen J. Murray. We reformatted the text and layout, but have not edited the first edition's content, except where noted.