St. John's UCC Church Steeple - (Cappeln) New Melle, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 41.758 W 090° 54.876
15S E 681357 N 4285102
Church founded 1833, construction of current church started 1863; many delays because of the Civil War; finished 1865
Waymark Code: WMVA7D
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 03/22/2017
Views: 0
County of church: St. Charles County
Location of church: St. Johannes Lane, S. of MO-D, 2 miles W. of New Melle
Phone: (636) 828-5221
Pastor: Kevin E. Weaver Interim Pastor
Steeple is 70 feet in height (per Deacon on site) and the weathervane is an arrow with the fletching being a fish over a copper ball to capture lightning should it be struck
"About the year 1835 several families in and around what later became known as Cappeln, MO, secured the services of the Femme Osage pastor, Herman Garlichs to come to this neighborhood as a "circuit" pastor and occasionally hold church services. For some years services were held in the Schultz family home about four miles west of the present site of the church. Then in early 1839 a forty acre plot of land was given to the St. Johannes Gemeinde" (St. John's Congregation) by the Borgelt family. This is the same site that has remained in the hands of the congregation for some 140 years. It was on this location in 1840 that the first church structure was built. It was a log building situated just east of the present school house, there it stood and was used as the worship sanctuary and Christian education building until it was replaced by the present stone church in 1865.
"A carillon system (clock and hymn chimes) was installed in 1993 in the steeple of the church. This was a gift given in memory of Herman and Lydia Freese by their children Mabel Busdieker and Raymond Freese and their families. A secondary part of this donation was a two octave set of hand bells for St. John's ministry of music." ~ A narrative history (see link below)