St. Paul Lutheran Church will hold a service on Sunday, Oct. 16, at 4 p.m. to celebrate the beginning of its first congregation in Millersville. The service will open with the dedication of a memorial tree on church grounds and will be followed by a dinner reception inside the church after the service. There is a set fee for the reception; to register, contact the St. Paul Church office at 717-872-7392 or office@stpaulmillersville.org.

St. Paul Lutheran Church traces its roots back to 1844, when it was established as part of a union church. As a union church, the building was shared by the Lutheran, Moravian, and German Reformed congregations. "There were Lutherans in Millersville before 1844, but they worshipped privately," said Ken Hoak, church historian of St. Paul Lutheran. "It was when the log church was built there that the three congregations came together and shared the building." The original union church was located on the corner of George Street and Cottage Avenue. Since then, the building has taken on various roles, serving as the Millersville post office, a bank, and the George Street Cafe for several years.

In 1871, the Lutherans dedicated a cornerstone to be used for their own building, a brick church that was located at St. Paul's current site on North George Street. It was demolished in 1973 to allow for the construction of what is the church's present-day building. The Oct. 16 service will commemorate the laying of the first cornerstone of the original brick church, which marked the beginning of the Lutherans' first independent congregation in the town.

The tree that will be dedicated at the start of the service is an Atlas blue cedar sapling that was planted two weeks ago. "We wanted to plant a cedar of Lebanon due to its biblical significance but couldn't acquire one locally. The Atlas blue cedar is a relative to the cedar of Lebanon. It's in the same family, but instead of originating in the Holy Lands, it comes from the Atlas mountains in Morocco," said Hoak. Additionally, a bay magnolia seedling will be given to each family of the congregation to be planted on its own property.

During the service, the congregation will burn the mortgage for the current church. The church's organist, William Napier, will also perform several original musical compositions during the celebration.

For more information, visit http://www.stpaullutheranmillersville.org.