Quickel Evangelical Lutheran Church ~ A Brief History
We are proud of our rich heritage and we offer this brief summary of our congregation.
The Rev. Nicholas Hornell became pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in York in October 1763, and at the same time he began to serve our congregation. It is from this information that the year 1763 has been taken to establish the date of the beginning of Quickel Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. During this time the congregation was a part of the Spring Garden Charge. The first meetings were held in the home of the early German settlers.
Early history reveals that the Reformed congregation, which owned jointly with the Lutheran congregation the property and facilities, was organized in the year 1767. It was around that time that a stone school house was built which became the seat of worship for the early congregation. Worshippers came great distances by foot and horseback and soon the school house became too small to accommodate the congregation.
In 1770, on land acquired from Michael Quickel and his wife Barbara, the first church building was erected. It was located directly across the road from our present building, an area now known as the "old cemetery." The building was made of logs and was weatherboarded, its longest side facing the road.
Originally "Zion" was to be the church's name; however, there was never a time when it was known by anything other than Quickel's. Still, the gables read "Zion Kirche 1850" and the village was named Zion View because it overlooked the church. The same building used for worship today was built in 1850. The building originally was without a bell tower, bell or steeple.
During the pastorate of the Rev. C. J. Deininger (1853-1885), Quickel Lutheran Church and St. Paul's (Wolf's) Lutheran Church disassociated themselves from the Spring Garden Charge. They united with Mt. Zion Lutheran Church and Salem (Paradise) Lutheran Church in what then became known as Quickel's Charge. This union relationship of the four churches continued until 1922, when Wolf's and Salem dropped from the Charge and the union association between Quickel and Mt. Zion continued.
The church building as remodeled in 1881. This building was remodeled in 1881 when the spire and bell tower, with a bell weighing about 1500 pounds, were the major items of change. Financial records show that the entire cost was approximately $650.00 of which $417.95 represented the cost of the bell.
About 1900 a new pump organ replaced one that had been used since the 1870's. In 1920 electric lights replaced coal oil lanterns in time for the wedding of J. Russell and Fairy Fink, the first to be performed in the nave.
A major renovation of the church in 1926 included the replacing of floors and pews, and the changing of the altar. Sunday School rooms were built (one on either side of the altar), and pot-bellied stoves were replaced with a pipeless furnace. However, in the winter of 1938-39 the steam-heating system, currently in use, was installed.
The stained glass windows were purchased in 1937 and on September 7, 1947 dedication services were held for a new Furst organ.
On June 4, 1950, the one-hundredth anniversary year of the erection of the original building, a groundbreaking service was conducted for the addition of our Sunday School annex. The small Sunday School rooms were then removed. Services for the dedication of the new addition, and the carpeting and redecorating of the existing building, were held on November 18 and 25, 1951. It was at that time when the Rev. C. Guy Stambach painted the picture above the altar.
In 1955 the Mt. Zion congregation made a proposal to Quickel's congregation for the dissolution of the jointure. In 1956 the decision to dissolve the union relationship between Quickel's Lutheran and Reformed congregations was made. On May 26, 1957 the last union service was scheduled. The consideration agreed upon by both congregations was approximately $24,000.00. Having made this payment to the Mercersburg Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the Lutheran congregation became the owner of all church property and facilities. The majority of the members of the Reformed congregation united with the Evangelical and Reformed Church of Starview, Pennsylvania.
In 1957 Quickel's Sunday School picnic was held in its own pavilion and grove, just east of the church, on land purchased from the Emrich family. Prior to this time the well known Quickel's Sunday School picnics were held at various locations including Hickory Hollow Park (beside the Conewago Creek just off the old Susquehanna Trail), Peeling's Woods (east of Mt. Washington EUB Church), Brookside Park (near Dover) and White Oak Park (north of North York).
In 1960 a move to build a new parsonage in the church yard adjacent to the church was presented by the council to the congregation at a cost not to exceed $25,000.00. The sexton house was removed and a new parsonage was completed in the early part of 1961. Dedication was on April 23, 1961.
Another program, in 1975, added the Annie Brenner Narthex and redesigned the chancel. The altar was moved away from the wall to become "free-standing" and the organ console and the choir were moved to the balcony. The chandeliers were also added. Late in 1982 a new thirteen rank Moller organ, replacing the Furst organ, was installed at a cost of $76,900.00.
During 1987 paint was removed from the bricks of the Church building, after which the building was repointed and the bricks were treated with silicone. All exterior and interior woodwork was refinished, the stained glass windows were releaded and permanently protected, and an entrance ramp was built for the handicapped. The carpet was replaced, pew cushions were purchased and the stained glass windows (removed during the 1950 renovations) were installed as shadow boxes on either side of the altar at balcony level during 1988.
In 2005, the narthex, nave and chancel walls, ceilings and accouterments were repainted. Stained glass panels that were originally installed over the entrances until the 1975 narthex additions, were reinstalled over the narthex entrances in 2006.
And thus developed this 225 year old congregation, lending just cause for celebrating --- a celebration for the living, but remembering those before us who similarly celebrated as they furthered the Christian life at Quickel's Church; a celebration where we look to the future with faith, hope, and love, anticipating a continuous growth as the PEOPLE OF GOD being guided by the Holy Spirit.
The Pastors of Quickel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Rev. Nicholas Hornell (1763-1765)
Rev. John George Bager (1767-1770)
Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz (1770-1789)
Rev. Jacob Goehring (Associate Pastor 1783-1789 and Pastor 1789-1809)
Rev. John George Smucker (Associate Pastor 1791-1793 and Pastor 1809-1842)
Rev. William German (1842-1852)
Rev. Augustus H. Lockman (1852-1853)
Rev. Constantine J. Deininger (1853-1885)
Rev. J. Henry Leeser (1885-1890)
Rev. Adam Stump (1890-1922)
Rev. J. C. McCarney (1922-1944)
Rev. Dr. Emmanuel J. Hoover (1944-1956)
Rev. Roy L. Yund (1956-1963)
Rev. John L. Kugle (1964-1978)
Rev. Larry L. McDaniel (1979-1986)
Rev. W. Robert Kurz (1987- 1997)
Rev. Ann Dentry (1999 - 2000
Rev. Cindy Chambers (2000 - 2007)
Rev. Barbara Barry (2009 - )
[URL:]http://www.quickellutheran.org/History.htm[:URL]