The story of St. John’s begins geographically in Germany. It begins spiritually in a faith much older than the immigrants who established the congregation in a place they called “die Deutsche Kolonie von Nord Alabama.” The history and theological heritage of St. John’s provide a glimpse into the faithfulness of God through the lens of a pilgrim community and their spiritual descendants, all who have had their eyes on another world.

Colonel Johann Gottfried Cullmann arrived in America in 1865, having been on the losing end, economically and politically, of the German Revolution of 1848 and again in a rebellion against Bismarck in 1864. Having lost small financial fortunes twice, Cullmann traveled first to New York and Philadelphia before heading west to Cincinnati. It was in Ohio that he conceived the idea of establishing a German colony for immigrants fleeing the poor economic and political conditions of the homeland.

Alabama Governor Robert Patton supplied Cullmann with horses, wagons and supplies to explore the area. By January of 1873 Cullmann visited Cincinnati to begin recruiting settlers. He returned to Alabama in April with the town’s first five families and a total of fourteen people. One hundred and twenty-three families had joined the colony by January 1874. Mostly mechanics, craftsmen and shopkeepers, these new settlers came from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.” The population reached 6,355 by 1880 when Cullmann would begin a new recruiting campaign.

By 1900, the population had increased to 17,849.

When Cullmann and his band of German settlers arrived in north Alabama in the 1870s, they brought with them a host of presuppositions about life and faith. Although Cullmann himself appears not to have been a particularly religious man, he tended to the spiritual concerns of the people he recruited, becoming a charter member of St. John’s, established May 1, 1874, as First Evangelical Protestant Church. It was a name, reads the original constitution, “that shall never be changed.” Some sources indicate a dedication service was held as early as February 1874 at the original site of the first church building, suggesting the informal beginnings of St. John’s go back further than the official May date.

Names like Beckert, Stoback, Grell, Kobert, Zeigler, Rumpel, Keston, Hellman, Betz, Knoechel, Henning, Dietz, Wiltkomper, Kunz, Bauer, Brodrecht, Albes, Scheuing, Dreher, Kullman, von Gerichten, Prinz, Hoffmeyer, Ruehl, Kessler, Schwan and Fricke graced the original charter.

Early congregants constructed their first building on the west side of town between 4th and 5th avenues under the direction of Reverend Joseph Schmalzl. Christopher Conrad Scheuing was the first child baptized and Frederich Lessman and Caroline Wegener were the first couple to be married in the church.

The congregation seems to have had no formal denominational ties at its founding, but clung tenaciously to its German ethnic heritage, recruiting German pastors to minister to the spiritual needs of Germans and German-Americans. Seeking its ministers through various denominational agencies (primarily Lutheran), the congregation paid dues to those organizations without necessarily pursuing lasting ties.

The original constitution of St. John’s clarifies the desire of the early settlers of Cullman and founders of the church to maintain their German heritage. Like many first-generation immigrants, the German settlers of Cullman often lived with one foot in the new world and one in the old. For example, Article 1, section 2 reads, “We cling to the symbols of the church of our old German fathers and defend the protestant faith and freedom of mind. We also believe in our salvation through Christ and recognize the Holy Scripture as the common rule and guide of our faith and life …”

That ethnic impulse was dominant enough that at least some services at St. John’s were conducted in the German language until 1932 when they were limited to twice a month. That arrangement continued until 1941 when the congregation discontinued all German-language services.

During the course of 150 years a congregation will encounter a number of highs and lows that shape the life and ministry of the faith community, including things like baptisms, confirmations, weddings, missions, building projects and even divisions. Indeed, St. John’s has endured four noteworthy schisms. As Cullman grew and changed so too did the tastes and particularities of belief held by the citizenry. Though much of that division was not theological in nature, the result was the planting of four congregations who have blessed Cullman with their own unique expression of the Christian tradition. This is in addition to a more formal church plant in Birmingham in 1898.

One of those divisions took place in 1885 when Reverend F. Englebert arrived as a pastoral candidate. Several years prior (1880) the church expressed an interest in affiliating with the General Synod Lutheran Church, but records indicate that both Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Protestant Church were used in the congregation’s nomenclature. Englebert came to Cullman as a devotee to the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. His candidacy was promptly denied, presumably because of his synodical allegiance. He, nonetheless, stayed in Cullman and founded St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, attracting several of the members of St. John’s to his cause. It was actually a year later in 1886, and perhaps in response to the founding of St. Paul’s, that the congregation adopted the name St. John’s after the apostle of the New Testament. The name change was formally noted in the 1901 constitution as St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Just as those German immigrants who made their way to Alabama were looking for new and better opportunities in this world, some would find more promising possibilities elsewhere. For example, a handful of Cullman residents resettled in Birmingham in 1898, bringing with them a faith influenced by their German heritage and St. John’s of Cullman. They founded what would become St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church. St. John’s Birmingham celebrated more than 100 years of ministry in the Magic City, part of the legacy of St. John’s Cullman.

St. John’s Lutheran ties would continue well into the twentieth century. In 1919 the congregation called Haus Henning to serve as pastor. Henning is notable for first introducing English into the morning services. The newly arrived minister also sought to lead St. John’s into a Lutheran synod the congregation as a whole did not wish to join. While away in 1921, Henning and his wife attended a Jack Dempsey fight, leading to a discrepancy in church finances. Accusations were made that Henning spent church funds on his family vacation when he was supposed to be attending a church-related conference. Although it seems Henning was very popular with the younger and newer members, his leadership proved too tumultuous to lead the congregation as a whole and church leaders asked Henning to resign in January of 1922. Like Englebert before him, Henning decided to remain in Cullman and he led a number away from St. John’s and founded Christ English Lutheran Church.

Though it would appear that St. John’s was a Lutheran church based on pastorates, the lack of reception of Englebert’s and Henning’s leadership hints that the congregation might have leaned toward Lutheranism more because of its connections with their German ethnicity rather than a strong credal conviction. For instance, in 1904 Reverend W.H. Aufderhaar came as pastor and served until 1907. Aufderhaar was not a Lutheran, but belonged to the German Evangelical Synod of North America. Furthermore, Aufderhaar returned to Cullman for a second stint as pastor after Henning’s dismissal. Under Aufderhaar’s capable leadership, St. John’s began a new building program with George Stiefelmeyer, Sr. as building chairman.

On December 31, 1922 the cornerstone of the present church was laid, and the dedication was held on March 18, 1924. The parsonage construction, sponsored by the Ladies Aid Society (later Women’s Guild), began in 1928 and was completed on May 4, 1930.

Aufderhaar led the congregation to formally join the more ecumenically minded Evangelical Synod, sometime around 1926. These moves proved most influential, establishing St. John’s and its connection to the wider church for the next hundred years and providing the congregation with a worship facility still used today.

The German pulse of the congregation remained strong well into the twentieth century and it was not until 1968 that St. John’s called its first non-German pastor. In July of that year the congregation installed George Fidler as senior pastor, marking a long pastorate to renew a then-declining church.

The gamble to call this North Carolina native proved a good decision as the congregation experienced a great revitalization. Fidler introduced a more gospel-oriented musical style to worship, including the formation of the enduring and locally popular Revelations Quartet. For decades, and through numerous iterations, the Revelations blessed St. John’s and the wider community with the sounds of faith in their own southern gospel style. (Members have included George Fidler, Perry Warren, Eddie Peinhardt, Carolyn Peinhardt Johnson, Johnny Richter, Paul Brown, Fritz Schuman, Jack Stevens, Wes Warren and Sherrie Brown, as well as others who have joined in for shorter seasons.)

Likewise, Nell Kirby served at St. John’s through much of Fidler’s tenure, as organist and choir director, contributing to the ongoing musical evolution at St. John’s. Toward the end of Fidler’s pastorate, Reverend Jim Walker arrived to lead the music ministry. It was also during this season that St. John’s staff expanded in other areas to an associate pastor (Herb Young, Randy Otto, Steve Nyquist) and a full-time director of youth ministry (Greg Hollingsworth).

Sadly, two more divisions, caused by the challenges of an expanding staff structure, marred Fidler’s tenure. The first was in 1989 and led to the founding of what is today New Life Christian Church. Though St. John’s quickly rebounded another division erupted in 1992 and contributed to the founding of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church. The latter controversy proved detrimental for Fidler to continue leading the congregation, and he resigned that same year, returning to pastor churches in North Carolina.

After a brief interim period, the fragmented congregation called the Reverend Robert Kurtz as Senior Pastor in 1993. Installed in 1994, his leadership brought stability, a rehabilitated reputation in the community, and a robust congregational life. Under his leadership, the congregation renovated the Ruehl Building for ministry purposes, founded Little Lambs Preschool and expanded the physical footprint of the campus to include Christ Hall, the Atrium, a student ministry center, as well as children’s classrooms for the preschool and Sunday school. Jim Walker continued serving during much of Kurtz’s tenure and his self-described “bapti-costal” style saw the music ministry of St. John’s soar to new heights.

Chris Hester, serving as Minister of Parish Life, helped oversee an expanding young adult and discipleship ministry with lay leaders like Wade Warren. After Chris’ departure to serve as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, Steve Wood and John Richter would be added to the staff as associate pastors, while Brian Ferguson and Ben Karwoski served in youth ministry.

Pastor Kurtz’s retirement in June 2012 both marked the end of a period of joyful renewal and met with uncertainty in the search for a new Senior Pastor. Reverend John Richter served as interim before formally being installed as Senior Pastor in 2014.

To truly know St. John’s and the work God has done here is to know the testimony of those who have been a part of this fellowship. Some have come and stayed a lifetime. Others have made it a small part of their pilgrimage. Few who have traversed this way, however, have not felt the impact and warmth of this storied family of faith.