The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1909-12-23
WAS CROWDED TO CAPACITY
Many Former Members Come to Keno
Sha to Take Part in the Cerem MES
and Former Ministers Extend Con-
gratulations to Congregation.

the service of God on Sunday and the
dedication of the new temple of wor-
ship brought one of the greatest rell-
tgious celebrations ever seen in Keno
sha Thousands of members and
| friends of the church attended the
services during the day and many peo-
pie came from other cities to assist
in the work Of opening the church for
the regular uses of the congregation.
Seldom in the history of Kenosha and
certainly never in the history OF the
German Lutheran church has there
been such an outpouring of enthuslas-
tic people at any services. At the
principal service of the day held In
the morning the church was filled to
capacity and 1t is estimated that fully
1900 people were present while at the
afternoon service the attendance was
even larger. Delegations came from
all the churches in this section Of the
state while former ministers of the
congregation extended their congratu-
lations to the congregation either in
person or by letter. 1t was great
day for the German Lutherans of Ke-
nosha and one that will go down in
the history of the church.
During the day hundreds of dollars
were raised to pay off the debt on the
new church and while the congregation
will have to issue bonds to complete
the payment the bond issue will not
be as large as was anticipated and the
congregation has one Of the finest
pieces of property owned by any
church society in this section of the
state.
The last touches were placed on the
new church on Saturday and when the
keys were turned over to the Rev. c..
Buenger, the pastor of the church,
everything was in readiness for the
church to take charge of the property.
The ceremonies attending the dedi-
cation began just before ten O'Clock
when the members of the congregation
gathered at the school hall and held a
farewell service in the hall and then
marched in body to the new church.
At the doors the crowd of people were
met by the contractor who turned over
the keys to the church. At the head
Of the procession marched Rev. Buen-
ger and Rev. William Streissguth Of
Milwaukee, the pioneer pastor Of the
church, while long line Of ministers
and church officers followed them AS
the crowd entered the church there
was a song of praise led by a choir
made up of the children of the schools,
the mixed choir and the male choir led
by Prof. Albrecht. The Rev. Mr.
Buenger made the prayer of consecra-
tion of the building after which the
ritualistic ceremonies Of dedication
were carried out by the Rev. Gustav
E. Bergeman of Fond du Lac, the pre-
siding officer of the Lutheran Synod
Of Wisconsin. The Rev. Mr.. Berge-
man later preached powerful dedi-
catory sermon. Prof. Helmdeich Of
Milwaukee, presided at the organ.
At half past two O'Clock in the al,
ternoon the second service of the day
was held. This was in the form Of
praise. service at which Prof. M. F.
Walz of Bay City, but formerly of Ke
nosha presided at the organ and music
was furnished by the men s choir of
st. John IS church in Racine, assisted
by the choirs of the local church. The
speakers at the afternoon meeting in
Guided Prof. J. Schaller, director of
the Theological Seminary at Wauwa-
tosa, and the Rev. William Dallmann
of Mt Olive church in Milwaukee.
Mr.. Dallmann delivered an English
sermon in which he brought the con-
gratulations of the Synod to the mem
bers of the Kenosha church on the com
pletion of the handsome new temple.
More than 1900 people attended the
afternoon service.
The services attending the dedica-
ton closed in the evening when a serv-
ice with addresses in both German and
English was held. Paul Denninger Of
Racine presided at the organ and the
musical numbers were unusually at
tractive. The Rev. A. Gausewitz, pas
tor of Grace church in Milwaukee, de-
livered the English sermon and the
Rev. E. F. Dornfeld, one of the most
beloved of the former pastors of the
church, spoke in German. Mr. Dorm
field recalled many "reminiscences in
connection with the congregation and
his sermon was one of the features of
the day.
Following the closing service of the
dedication there was an organ recital
at which numbers were given by the
three organists who had taken part in
the services during the day.
During the day there were many
social reunions of the members of the