Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jonestown, PA began as the Swatara Kirche Church in the early 1700s. When did the church actually begin? This is a rather interesting question. Records indicate that German-Lutheran settlers were baptized in Jonestown as early as 1734 (and maybe even 1733!). However, consistent worship did not start until five years later in 1739. Like many churches that had German settlers, this early congregation was a joint church of Lutheran and Reformed tradition. They met together for 25 years before building their first church on South Broad Street in 1764. At that time, the Reverand John Stoever served as pastor of the church. He was also the second Lutheran pastor to be ordained in America in 1733. For some, the construction of the building in 1764 marks the start of the church; for others, the consistent worship on Sunday in 1739 marks the beginnings. It is worth noting that in either case, most churches in the area have a hard time pinning down exact dates because clergy were in such short supply. Even if a congregation had a building and called pastor, they may not have had worship every Sunday. Travel in those days was hard and expensive.
On September 4, 1792, the cornerstone was laid for the Lutheran church a short distance east of the present building. Later on May 11, 1853, the cornerstone was laid for the present building. The cost of the new church was $4,500! This dollar figure is remarkable for such a small farming town. Throughout its history, the people of Zion's have made sacrifices for the ministry.
After the Civil War, the congregation moved from German worship services to English worship services. It sounds easy in retrospect, but this was a significant endeavor at the time. Today we have an English as a Second Language ministry, where we continue to welcome the stranger whose native language is not English.
The congregation has a long tradition of loving music. A Mailer pipe organ was purchased in 1925. A Mueller organ replaced this one in the 1960s. We continue to worship using this organ on Sundays. We also have pictures of our junior choir going back over 70 years.
The very first Bible School was recorded in 1952. From the beginning, the Sunday School was not simply for children, but also adults. From 1960 to 1963, the educational wing was constructed. When construction plans proved more costly than originally anticipated, the members of the congregation completed the work by hand.
Our first female acolytes were in the 1970s and this congregation called its first female pastor in 2002.
We are both proud but also humbled by this great history, knowing that we reap the seed sown in faith by caring Christians generations ago. We continue to be inspired by the dedication of so many people to God's ministry through this church over the past 275 years.
