Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (Lunenburg)
The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is a church in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The church is the home of the first Lutheran congregation in Canada. German Lutheran settlers arrived in 1753 and held services in the open air and later at St. John's Anglican Church (Lunenburg). The first church on this site was built in 1772 by Rev. Mr. Friederich Schultz at Lunenburg.[1] He stayed for 8 years.[2]
After the position was vacant for two years, Johann Gottlob Schmeisser arrived in Lunenburg on 1 May 1782.[3] Within a month of arriving in the community, the Lutheran minister was involved in defending the town from American invaders in the Raid on Lunenburg (1782).
Third minister was Ferdinand Conrad Temme (1808-1832).[4] Almost 50 years after he died, the conjuration built a monument to him in the upper Lunenburg cemetery.
The position of pastor was vacant for three years until the arrival of Rev. Charles Ernst Cossman (1835-1876).[5]
The church was replaced in 1841. The present building dates from 1890 and was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style.[6]
The only remains of the first Lutheran church are the key to the building and the Saint Antoine-Marie bell that had formerly hung in the Fortress of Louisbourg (St. Joseph is engraved on the bell, created 1723, Brittany, France) and had been purchased by the congregation in 1776.[7]
-
Johann Gottlob Schmeisser, 2nd minister (1782-1808)
-
Ferdinand Conrad Temme, 3rd minister (1808-1832)
-
Charles Ernst Cossman, 4th minister (1835-1876)