A New Building: 1854-1868:
 Pastor Benjamin Keller
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In 1854 a pastor appeared on the scene who was to influence Immanuel's future greatly: the Rev. Benjamin Keller, who had been a member of the Ministerium since 1814, and even served as its President for a time. During the last years of his life he served St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Germantown--at that time a mission, today merged with St. Michaels, the mother church of Immanuel. When he died in 1864 he left a sum of money in his will for the then new Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.
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Keller first preached at Immanuel on October 29, 1854. He immediately did three things to help bring order into the congregation's rather confused state of affairs: he introduced a constitution (which had been drawn up with the help of Dr. W. J. Mann of St. Michaels-Zion); had the congregation registered as a non-profit corporation by the Philadelphia court; and saw to it that a clear title for the church property was secured. The first official occurrence of the name "Immanuel" seems to be on the act of incorporation dated February 3, 1855. Pastor Keller also kept regular minutes of council meetings and began a parish register. These records, written in beautiful German script, are among the earliest archives we have in our possession.
Two of his reports to the Ministerium in 1855 and 1856 provide us with a glimpse of life at Immanuel during his pastorate:
This congregation was originated more than 60 years ago. Peculiar circumstances had produced dissatisfaction among the people and the congregation had become almost extinct. Since the reorganization and incorporation of the church peace has been completely restored. A church council has been chosen in accordance with the charter which the regular congregation now holds and manages the property belonging to the congregation...(in 1856 he reports) In the Emanuel's Church, at Frankford, I preach every two weeks, alternately in the forenoon and afternoon. The majority of the members live in Bridesburg, and are working the the factories of that place. Their earnings being very small, they cannot do much toward the support of the church. Many of these Germans have no settled residence. As soon as they have saved money to pay their traveling expenses, they leave for the far West...
Pastor Keller also suggested that the congregation relocate to a site more conveniently located for the German community of Frankford and neighboring Bridesburg. Unfortunately he resigned in 1857 in order to accept a position as general agent of the Lutheran Board of Publication. The relocation project was to be realized, but not until 1868, when the new building on Tackawana Street was dedicated (closer to Bridesburg but neverless still in Frankford). The Keller pastorate was notwithstanding a fruitful one, for he was able to bring order into the small struggling congregation and instill in its members a vision for the future.
From 1858-62 Immanuel was served by Pastor E. Speidel, whose report to the Ministerium is written up in this way:
Pastor Ed Speidel...says of his labors in Frankford, that he preached there every Sunday from August to October, 1857 and since then every Lord's day. The congregation is small and numbers but twenty-five to thirty members proper, although from forty to fifty persons regularly attend the service...
It seems that he was also doing work among the Lutherans in Bridesburg, and managed to unite this group with the Frankford congregation into the United Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Frankford and Bridesburg. However, the union did not last long, and later the Bridesburg group became a Reformed congregation. Writing in 1861 of the poor attendance in Frankford, Pastor Speidel noted in the minutes of a congregational meeting: "The reason has to do with the unchurchly mentality of most Germans here, who always have money to spend at the tavern, but none for churchly purposes." He too urged the building of a new church at a more favorable location.
After his departure in 1862 Immanuel was vacant for some time until the arrival of Pastor J. Kucher in 1864. We read in the minutes of the Ministerium of that year:
There had been no regular services at Frankford for several years, when in January last Rev. Mr. Kucher took charge of the congregation. The number of families has so increased since then as now to number 60. Many Germans in the neighborhood have not regularly attended service for years, and it may require some time and labor to bring them back to the fold...The Sunday School, just started, numbers from 50 to 60 children.
During his pastorate land was bought at Tackawanna and Plum Streets where a new church building was to be erected. However, he did not stay long enough to see the project through to completion, and after his resignation in 1865 the small congregation was again in need of a new pastor to guide its future development plan. He was found in the person of G. H. Vossler, who proved to be the right person to carry out the building of a new church. According to the council minutes, his salary was $500 per year. It is exciting to read the account in these minutes of how the plans were drawn up and the church constructed, even allowing for Pastor Vossler's chicken-scratch style German script. After years of stalling the members of Immanuel finally seemed motivated to build the new church at a location more favorable to ministry to German speaking persons.
The cornerstone for the new building was laid in July 1867 with appropriate ceremony. A list of documents placed into it is provided in the council minutes. Among the items were a German Bible, a copy of Luther's Small Catechism, a German hymnal, the constitution of the congregation, copies of various church periodicals, several newspapers, and a few coins of that year. In the spring of 1974 this cornerstone was opened (prior to the laying of the cornerstone of Immanuel's present house of worship in Somerton), and to everyone's great disappointment everything but the Bible and the coins was deteriorated beyond recognition, water having seeped into the box into which the items had been placed.
On April 19, 1868, Quasimodo Geniti Sunday, the long awaited day arrived when the new church was dedicated. Prominent pastors taking part included several from the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia, then a very new institution: Dr. C. F. Schaeffer (a son of Immanuel's founder),Dr. W. J. Mann, and Dr. A. Spaeth. Other Lutheran congregations were also represented, included St. Michaels-Zion (now merged with St. Matthew's on Broad Street and called Old Zion; this church is often considered the "mother church" of all other Lutheran congregations in the city), St. Paul's (once at American and Brown Sts., now merged with St. Paul's in Olney), St. Jackbus (no longer in existence), St. Johannes (now St. John's Mayfair), and Emanuel Southwark. The new sanctuary was decorated with protraits of Luther and Melanchton, the flags of the German states, and the stars and stripes.
Two of his reports to the Ministerium in 1855 and 1856 provide us with a glimpse of life at Immanuel during his pastorate:
This congregation was originated more than 60 years ago. Peculiar circumstances had produced dissatisfaction among the people and the congregation had become almost extinct. Since the reorganization and incorporation of the church peace has been completely restored. A church council has been chosen in accordance with the charter which the regular congregation now holds and manages the property belonging to the congregation...(in 1856 he reports) In the Emanuel's Church, at Frankford, I preach every two weeks, alternately in the forenoon and afternoon. The majority of the members live in Bridesburg, and are working the the factories of that place. Their earnings being very small, they cannot do much toward the support of the church. Many of these Germans have no settled residence. As soon as they have saved money to pay their traveling expenses, they leave for the far West...
Pastor Keller also suggested that the congregation relocate to a site more conveniently located for the German community of Frankford and neighboring Bridesburg. Unfortunately he resigned in 1857 in order to accept a position as general agent of the Lutheran Board of Publication. The relocation project was to be realized, but not until 1868, when the new building on Tackawana Street was dedicated (closer to Bridesburg but neverless still in Frankford). The Keller pastorate was notwithstanding a fruitful one, for he was able to bring order into the small struggling congregation and instill in its members a vision for the future.
From 1858-62 Immanuel was served by Pastor E. Speidel, whose report to the Ministerium is written up in this way:
Pastor Ed Speidel...says of his labors in Frankford, that he preached there every Sunday from August to October, 1857 and since then every Lord's day. The congregation is small and numbers but twenty-five to thirty members proper, although from forty to fifty persons regularly attend the service...
It seems that he was also doing work among the Lutherans in Bridesburg, and managed to unite this group with the Frankford congregation into the United Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Frankford and Bridesburg. However, the union did not last long, and later the Bridesburg group became a Reformed congregation. Writing in 1861 of the poor attendance in Frankford, Pastor Speidel noted in the minutes of a congregational meeting: "The reason has to do with the unchurchly mentality of most Germans here, who always have money to spend at the tavern, but none for churchly purposes." He too urged the building of a new church at a more favorable location.
After his departure in 1862 Immanuel was vacant for some time until the arrival of Pastor J. Kucher in 1864. We read in the minutes of the Ministerium of that year:
There had been no regular services at Frankford for several years, when in January last Rev. Mr. Kucher took charge of the congregation. The number of families has so increased since then as now to number 60. Many Germans in the neighborhood have not regularly attended service for years, and it may require some time and labor to bring them back to the fold...The Sunday School, just started, numbers from 50 to 60 children.
During his pastorate land was bought at Tackawanna and Plum Streets where a new church building was to be erected. However, he did not stay long enough to see the project through to completion, and after his resignation in 1865 the small congregation was again in need of a new pastor to guide its future development plan. He was found in the person of G. H. Vossler, who proved to be the right person to carry out the building of a new church. According to the council minutes, his salary was $500 per year. It is exciting to read the account in these minutes of how the plans were drawn up and the church constructed, even allowing for Pastor Vossler's chicken-scratch style German script. After years of stalling the members of Immanuel finally seemed motivated to build the new church at a location more favorable to ministry to German speaking persons.
The cornerstone for the new building was laid in July 1867 with appropriate ceremony. A list of documents placed into it is provided in the council minutes. Among the items were a German Bible, a copy of Luther's Small Catechism, a German hymnal, the constitution of the congregation, copies of various church periodicals, several newspapers, and a few coins of that year. In the spring of 1974 this cornerstone was opened (prior to the laying of the cornerstone of Immanuel's present house of worship in Somerton), and to everyone's great disappointment everything but the Bible and the coins was deteriorated beyond recognition, water having seeped into the box into which the items had been placed.
On April 19, 1868, Quasimodo Geniti Sunday, the long awaited day arrived when the new church was dedicated. Prominent pastors taking part included several from the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia, then a very new institution: Dr. C. F. Schaeffer (a son of Immanuel's founder),Dr. W. J. Mann, and Dr. A. Spaeth. Other Lutheran congregations were also represented, included St. Michaels-Zion (now merged with St. Matthew's on Broad Street and called Old Zion; this church is often considered the "mother church" of all other Lutheran congregations in the city), St. Paul's (once at American and Brown Sts., now merged with St. Paul's in Olney), St. Jackbus (no longer in existence), St. Johannes (now St. John's Mayfair), and Emanuel Southwark. The new sanctuary was decorated with protraits of Luther and Melanchton, the flags of the German states, and the stars and stripes.
The new building on Tackawanna Street
Naturally the construction of a new church building was an ambitious and costly project for a small, usually struggling congregation such as Immanuel. It was financed partly through a loan of $5,000 from St. Michaels-Zion, and also in part through the income from picnics and other activities for which admission was charged and at which various amusements were offered. The profit at one of them, held on September 16, 1868 was $192.11. An even more spectacular one took place in 1869. According to the council minutes 1000 tickets were printed, and every member was supposed to receive at least ten of them to sell. A complete meal could be purchased for fifty cents. Cigars, beer, Rhine wine and lemonade were sold, and a shooting gallery was also featured (except for the lemonade, all of the aforementioned items would later fall into disrepute in some church circles!). The final tabulation shows an outlay of $562.02 over against proceeds of $1,824.79, resulting in a profit of $1,262.77.
Naturally the construction of a new church building was an ambitious and costly project for a small, usually struggling congregation such as Immanuel. It was financed partly through a loan of $5,000 from St. Michaels-Zion, and also in part through the income from picnics and other activities for which admission was charged and at which various amusements were offered. The profit at one of them, held on September 16, 1868 was $192.11. An even more spectacular one took place in 1869. According to the council minutes 1000 tickets were printed, and every member was supposed to receive at least ten of them to sell. A complete meal could be purchased for fifty cents. Cigars, beer, Rhine wine and lemonade were sold, and a shooting gallery was also featured (except for the lemonade, all of the aforementioned items would later fall into disrepute in some church circles!). The final tabulation shows an outlay of $562.02 over against proceeds of $1,824.79, resulting in a profit of $1,262.77.