Saints Peter and Paul Lutheran Church, Freeland, Luzerne County

It's very cold today, though at least it's not as gloomy as it was yesterday or is expected to be tomorrow. It has me thinking back to the much sunnier and more temperate day I enjoyed when I was last in Luzerne County. 

I had a great time on my visit to Eckley Miners' Village, except for one tiny thing: by the time I had finished walking the length of the little patch town, I was very hungry, and the souvenir shop only sold things like candy bars and bags of chips. I asked our tour guide if he could recommend a place for me to get lunch once I left the village, but before he could answer, another gentleman on the tour piped up and encouraged me to drive roughly three miles to the community of Freeland, and eat at the Freeland Diner.

This turned out to be a great tip and I again thank the gentleman for his recommendation. Not only was the food there very good and quite reasonably priced, but Freeland is home to one of my markers, so I was going to have to go there at some point anyway. (Also, if you visit the diner's website, you can actually see a picture of the booth where I was seated, which amuses me more than it probably should.)

Interestingly, not only did I conduct both the Eckley quest and this one on the same day, but they're actually related.

The marker stands in the front yard of the church
at 339 Washington Street, Freeland.

In the 1870s, there was a heavy influx of Slovakian immigrants to Luzerne County. Freeland in particular became home to many of these Eastern Europeans; it was the site of both the first American baptism of Slovak children, in 1877, and the first Slovak wedding in America, in 1879. In those days, the Lutheran Slovaks of Freeland worshiped in private homes, with laymen conducting the services; but in 1883, many of them got together to establish a ministry of their own. Leading this plan was local businessman Michael Zemany, who seems to have been associated with Eckley Coxe in at least one or two endeavors; he was also later the publisher of the Slovenska Pravda ("Slovanic Truth"), a highly-regarded Slovak newspaper. 

The Czech pastor Rev. Karol Horak accepted the call and came to Freeland to lead the fledgling congregation for its first few years. Worship continued to take place in private homes, and then in space offered by St. Luke's Lutheran Church, until 1886. In February of that year, the growing flock decided they needed a church of their own, and Eckley Coxe donated a parcel of land on which they could build one. (I mentioned in the Eckley post that his Slovak miners and their families walked to Freeland to worship in their own language - now you know where they went.) The Coxes also gave them land on which to build a parsonage and, later, establish a cemetery. The church construction began in spring of 1886 and was completed in the same year. In accordance with commonwealth regulations, it was officially incorporated in 1887 as the Saint Peter and Paul Evangelical Lutheran Slavonian Church of Freeland, Pennsylvania. Try saying that three times fast.

It was the first Slovak Lutheran church in the entire western hemisphere, and now with a place to call their own, the congregation continued to grow and thrive. It went through a series of pastors who oversaw the growth; among these was the Rev. Albert Dianiska, who dedicated the cemetery and also married Mary, a daughter of founding church member Michael Zemany. Rev. Joseph Abraham, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, came to serve in 1903 and contributed heavily to the fame of the church. A gifted composer, he created a hymnal filled with literally hundreds of hymns he wrote himself, the first one ever arranged specifically for the Slovak Lutheran church. Under his leadership, the Sunday School was fully organized, and the church established Junior and Senior Choirs and a Ladies' Aid Society.

In 1933, the church celebrated its 50th anniversary of incorporation with a week of festivities starting on Labor Day. At that time there were 226 members, and the church had no debt on its property. Festivities later also marked the 65th anniversary celebration in June 1948, at which time the church interior was renovated and rededicated. A newspaper article at the time called Saints Peter and Paul "the mother church of Slovak Lutheran congregations, especially of those in the anthracite area." In the mid-20th century, the decline of the coal industry hurt the congregation, as families moved away from the Freeland area in search of work. Still, the church endured, in part by sharing pastoral services with other congregations so that they could save the expense of employing a full-time rector.

In 1982, as the church neared its 100th birthday, it was discovered that the records of the original incorporation were missing. To correct this, the congregation was incorporated anew, and given the name of Saints Peter and Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church. A new cornerstone was dedicated to mark the centennial, and a booklet detailing the church's history was published for the occasion; it can be downloaded and read in the sources section. 

By the time of the centennial, the church's membership was less than one hundred people. This is probably why, sadly, it no longer exists; the most recent photographs I've found which indicate an active congregation date from 2010. I can't pin down an exact date, but sometime since then, Saints Peter and Paul closed their doors. The building survives, however; today it serves as the United States headquarters of the Spanish-language Breath of Life Christian Mission, Inc. (Mision Cristiana Soplo de Vida Pastores Jaramillo). Their mission is to spread the Gospel and minister to those in need, especially disadvantaged members of society. The historical marker links Freeland to the church's past, and this new mission creates a connection to the future.

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Sources and Further Reading:

Assorted contributors. Sts. Peter & Paul Lutheran Church. Part of History of Freeland, Pa.

Saints Peter and Paul Lutheran Church centennial booklet

Wick, Harrison. Images of America: Luzerne County. Arcadia Publishing, 2011.

History of Saints Peter and Paul Slovak Lutheran Church at Rootsweb.com

Saints Peter and Paul Slovakian Lutheran Cemetery at FindAGrave.com

Saints Peter and Paul Lutheran Church at the Historical Marker Database

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.