St John’s congregation had its beginnings in 1852, when a group of Wendish Lutherans from Silesia named this locality Ebenezer (‘Hitherto hath the Lord helped us’
1 Samuel 7:12).
St John’s Lutheran Church Ebenezer congregation had its beginnings in January 1852, when a group of 72 Wendish Lutherans arrived from Silesia to settled here, and named this locality Ebenezer ('Hitherto hath the Lord helped us' 1 Samuel 7:12).
For some years the services were conducted in the home of Andreas Schneider. In 1859 the first church was dedicated, situated on the western side of the current church hall. Work commenced on a new church building in September 1904 and the first service was held in the new church on 9 April 1905. In October 1868, a group of eight families and two single men left Ebenezer to trek to the Riverina District of New South Wales. They named the area Ebenezer, but this was later changed to Walla Walla. A stone is erected on the church grounds in commemoration.
The Lemke Organ was housed in the first church and is still played today. It was built by Daniel Lemke, a Lutheran Day School teacher, who built four organs to supplement his meagre salary of ten pounds per annum. For the 50th Jubilee of the church building, celebrated on 15 May 1955, beautiful stained-glass windows replaced the plain frosted-glass ones in the church, and the pulpit and altar were relocated to their current positions. Also, the centre aisle was carpeted and the entire remaining floor was covered with linoleum. Pastor A Simpfendorfer commissioned German artist George Selke to paint the large crucifixion mural which stands above the altar.
The 150th anniversary of the church was celebrated in May 2002. Membership is 100 baptised members. The Ebenezer-Neukirch Ladies Fellowship celebrated 64 years of service and the combined Ebenezer-Neukirch Youth Fellowship celebrated 100 years of continuous service in 2013. In 2011 the Sunday School, named KLIC (Kids living in Christ), celebrated 110 years of continuous children’s ministry.
