In the year 1855, Pennsylvania State University was founded as Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania; Walt Whitman’s poetry collection, “Leaves of Grass,” was published, and Franklin Pierce (D-New Hampshire) was president of the United States (the Vice Presidency was vacant).

That was 170 years ago.

And, In 1855, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was established as the first English-speaking Lutheran Church in Allentown.

The 170th anniversary of St. John’s was celebrated May 4 at the 10:30 a.m. worship service in the church.

The Rev. Christopher deForest, Bishop, Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, delivered the homily and presided over communion. The Bishop’s sermon was based on The Bible’s New Testament John 21.

The Bishop spoke about celebrating the anniversary, the mission of church and updated information about the synod, said the Rev. Bradley Carroll, Pastor, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran.

“We decided to do it [the anniversary celebration] at the regular Sunday morning service,” said Rev. Carroll, church pastor for seven years and the church’s 13th pastor.

“We sang a hymn from the old Red Hymnal that the maestro had written,” Pastor Carroll noted.

The hymn is “St. Francis.” The maestro is Giuseppe Moschetti, organist, composer, choral director, 1948 - 1963, St. John’s.

Eric Gombert is Cantor at St. John’s, having begun there in 2017.

The celebration was followed by a reception in the church.

The Northeastern Synod is one of seven in Pennsylvania and 65 in the U.S.

St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 37 S. Fifth St., Allentown, has supported initiatives with Muhlenberg College; served as a relief agency, employment office, feeding station and distribution center during the Great Depression; held Friday night Community Nights, offering movies and hymn singing until World War II; held The Canteen Coffee Shop in cooperation with the YWCA, a popular gathering place for youth during the 1960s and 70s, and through the years hosted Head Start, Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank, senior citizens groups and Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts troops.

St. John’s is part of Allentown Collaborative Ministries, including Lutheran churches, St. Timothy’s, Redeemer, St. Luke’s and Christ Lutheran, and Nativity, South Whitehall Township.

The Arts at St. John’s hosts the Bach Choir of Bethlehem’s “Bach at Noon” series during the summer. The next “Bach at Noon” is June 10. “Bach at Noon” is held the second Tuesday, also in July and August at St. John’s.

Information: https://www.stjohnsallentown.org/