1842-1860
The beginnings of Christ Lutheran Church saw our first pastor, Reverand Andrew Perg, who answered an invitation from the Western Pennsylvania Synod held in New Bloomfield, PA, to preach in this new congregation. He began his pastoral endeavor in November of 1942. Pastor Perg not only preached in what was then called “Petersburg” but also served congregations in New Buffalo, Liverpool , Buck’s Schoohouse and other locales. He actually was in Petersburg only about once a month. With no formal church building, the congregation began to meet in the Methodist Episcopal church where the services were held in both English and German.
The church was officially formed in December of that year and held it’s first communion service on January 1, 1843. It became known as “The Church Between The Mountains”.
Rev. Perg stayed on until June of 1843 when a new pastor was secured by the name of Reverand Levi T. Williams. He rode the “preaching circuit” as it was called and served also Mt. Zion’s church in Fishing Creek, Mt. Pisgah in Carroll Twp., St. David’s (Billow’s) Church in Wheatfield Twp., along with New Buffalo.
Shortly after Rev. Williams was called, the congregation undertook to build their church building. Dr. Philip Ebert, a local physician and one of the founding charter members, sold the church an acre of land on May 7, 1844 for $100 for the building of a church and cemetery. This plot of land is the current site of Christ Lutheran Church.
On May 19, the cornerstone was laid and on November 10, 1844 the new church was dedicated (Declaration at the laying of the cornerstone). Pastor Williams resigned one year later in November of 1845 and Rev. Lloyd Knight took over the pastoral duties. At that time, Christ Lutheran had 29 members. Until 1850, Christ Lutheran was part of the New Bloomfield syndicate, but with the growth of the area, the synod made it it’s own syndicate with the churches in Fishing Creek, Carroll Twp, and Wheatfield Twp. This gave the Petersburg region more than 160 parishioners. During this time, Christ Lutheran’s pastors preached at a minimum of two of those parishes on any given Sunday, which likely led to several pastoral changes during this time.