Saint
Paul's Lutheran Church was established in Kingsville, MD in the year 1850.
The congregation consisted of members from Perry Hall, Kingsville, and
surrounding Baltimore county neighborhoods.
Our first church, a small stone structure seating about thirty people,
was built in 1859. Pastor M. W. Sommers laid the cornerstone.
The church stood next to a cow pasture and was located in the present
cemetery by the retaining wall.
For
a time, we at Saint Paul's were associated with the members of nearby Saint John's
Lutheran Church of Blenheim as a dual parish served by the same pastor.
However, growth in Baltimore County resulted in each congregation seeking
its own pastor.
In
1875, our first parsonage was built on the grounds of the present school.
It was a two-story frame building facing Jerusalem Road.
Twelve years later, Pastor Herr organized Saint Paul's first school in the
living room of the parsonage. There
were as many as twenty students enrolled at a time.
Our
parish grew throughout the ensuing decades.
In 1912, twenty-eight members of Saint Paul's, under the leadership of
Pastor N. Soergel, built a new sanctuary -- the beautiful white-paneled
"country church" which was to become so familiar to, and so much loved
by, both congregation and community.
Parish records indicate that
by 1942 Saint Paul's had 132 communicant members and that the average attendance
at worship was 83 at morning service and 26 at evening service.
In
1949, the firm of William Winskowski of Jarrettsville constructed the Parish
Hall, our large multipurpose building adjacent to the church.
In
1954, the church was expanded, adding more pews and relocating the organ to the
rear of the nave.
Saint
Paul's Lutheran School opened its doors in 1957. Mr. Loren Goehner was our founding principal.
Children in kindergarten through fourth grade met in classes in the
Parish Hall. Removable partitions
were used to separate the classes.
In
1992, the Reverend Michael Wollman accepted a call to be pastor of
Saint Paul's.
Six years later, the Reverend Gary Zieroth was installed as our
first associate pastor.
In 1999, our congregation voted to build a
new and larger church structure. The final
service in our beloved 1912 "country church" was held on November
28, 1999. On December 10, 2000,
we dedicated and consecrated our present 350-seat church.
