Emanuel Lutheran Hill Church to hold annual homecoming this weekend

Emanuel Lutheran Hill Church will hold its annual homecoming on September 21, 2025, at 2:30 p.m.

The historic church closed in 1970, but the annual homecoming has been held in September each year since then.

Rev. Tim Kraemer of Christ Lutheran will conduct the service. Holy Communion will be celebrated during the service. After the service, there will be a carry-in meal in the old schoolhouse.  The public is invited to join the activities at the old Hill Church.

The Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. at the church.

Emanuel Lutheran Hill Church was organized by Pastor C. Risch who began to serve the church in the spring of 1858. Until the Hill Church closed in 1970, twenty-two pastors served the congregation, during which time 938 baptisms took place, 646 confirmations occurred, 236 marriages and 362 burials were conducted.  Barbara Arnold was the first person to be baptized on April 4, 1858. The first confirmation class was in 1859 and it had five members.

In 1863, the first sanctuary was built, and the tower was added later in 1878.  The German schoolhouse was built in 1889, with the parsonage being added in 1891. 

The present church was erected in 1901. It is listed in the National Register of Historical Sites.

The pastors who served the congregation were:  Risch, Trauth, Meisner, Kuch, Schifterling, Meyer, Ave’Lallemand, Gunkel, Sterger, Lieb, Schaeffer, Fack, Rein, Keerl, Keiper, Hessemann, Heine, Barth, Hoffman, Wendel, Schott, and Johnson.

There presently is a Hill Church Cemetery Association which is responsible for the care and upkeep of the Hill Church and its cemetery and property.