Following the sudden and untimely death of Immanuel’s beloved Pastor Hans
Haug on September 14, l980, Pastor John Schweitzer became the pastor of Immanuel
Evangelical Lutheran Church and Marianne
Haug assumed the role of principal of the Immanuel German Language School.
In 1987, Immanuel Church celebrated its 195th Anniversary. The Rev.
Lawrence Hand, Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, attended the
celebration.
In
1992, Immanuel celebrated its 200th Anniversary. Immanuel began plans to
enlarge the Church complex. The planning began under the leadership of Pastor
Schweitzer, the Immanuel Church Council and the Building Committee. Plans
were drawn to modify existing rooms and build additional space to accommodate
the pressing needs of the congregation and that of the church staff. The work
proceeded well and the last stages were completed in the spring of 1994.
The results of this effort were a more adequate pastor’s office and
secretary’s office, an additional bathroom which accommodated disabled
persons, a well appointed church reception room, an enlarged lobby, a pantry
room adjacent to the kitchen, and a choir room which doubles as an additional
classroom. The installation of an elevator and a built-in incline at the rear
entrance enable disabled persons to have access to the two levels of the
church building. In the west side a second stairway connecting both levels
was also added.
In 1999, Marlene Stocks became principal of Immanuel German Language School. As
enrollment increased, more classrooms and space were needed. The school was
moved from the church premises to the Lower Moreland High School where there
were more adequate accommodations.
In 1999/2000, a Bell
Tower was erected through the generous giving of the members of
Immanuel and the dedicated efforts of Pastor Schweitzer and the members of
the bell tower committee.
In 2001, plans were developed for enlarging Immanuel’s church organ,
by means of a considerable sum received from the Gaskill estate and donations
from members of Immanuel Lutheran Church.
In September 2001 Pastor Schweitzer accepted a call from the First English
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Richmond, Virginia. Pastor Schweitzer’s
departure left Immanuel without a qualified bilingual pastor. The pastoral
call committee had the daunting task of finding someone to fill this vacancy.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod supplied Pastor William Shafer to meet the pastoral
needs of Immanuel until the post could be taken by a permanent pastor.
The search for a new pastor took two years. Pastor Sönke Schmidt-Lange was offered the
position and accepted the call to Immanuel, and Pastor Shafer left for a new
church assignment The installation service of Pastor Schmidt-Lange was held
on November 16, 2003 at Immanuel Church. The sermon was delivered by Rev.
Janet Corpus, Assistant to the Bishop, Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod ELCA.
In 2006, an elegant electronically controlled church sign was installed by
the entrance of the driveway. This major improvement was a gift from Immanuel
Church members Christine and Michael Simpson, in loving memory of Michael’s
mother, Joan Simpson. The dedication was held on June 11, 2006
