St. Peter Free Lutheran Church is a confessional Lutheran congregation serving communities throughout Ford County, IL; including Gibson City, Elliot, Paxton, Melvin, Roberts, and Sibley. We are a liturgical congregation grounded in both the historic and traditional teachings and practices of not only the Lutheran Church, but the entire Christian Church throughout the centuries. St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Melvin, IL was organized on October 20, 1872. It consisted of 15 families and their pastor of German decent. In 1873 a house of worship was erected. By 1888 the church had grown so much a new building was built. In 1913 the services were beginning to be conducted in English. Over the years many renovations were made to accommodate the growing congregation. The organ was purchased in 1946 and the pews used today were purchased used in 1951. In 1964 it was decided to build a new church and parsonage at the present location. Much of the work was done by volunteers of the Congregation which took longer, but saved money and helped the congregation to show unity. This was completed in 1967. Our congregation has been served by 26 pastors. We started with a German oriented service, then to American Lutheran, ELCA and in 2004 became a member of the Association of Free Lutheran Church (AFLC). We at St. Peter's are very proud of our heritage and hope to make the future generations proud to be members of St. Peter's. |