[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 10, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       125TH ANNIVERSARY OF MT. ZION EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

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                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 10, 2001

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to observe the 125th Anniversary 
of Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
  One hundred twenty-five years ago, a group of Lutheran pastors, 
including Dr. William A. Passavant, selected a section of Allegheny 
City, Pennsylvania, now known as Observatory Hill on Pittsburgh's 
Northside, for a new Lutheran congregation. A half-acre of land was 
purchased for the construction of the congregation's first building. It 
occupied the space where the Incarnation Academy stands today.
  Seventeen people signed the charter for Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran 
Church on the first Sunday in October 1876. The Reverend G.H. 
Gerberding became the first pastor of this congregation in 1876.
  In 1914, the cornerstone of the present English Gothic stone building 
located at 3936 Perrysville Avenue was laid. Several members of the 
congregation mortgaged their homes to provide the capital for the 
construction. In 1925, the congregation purchased the nearby Graham 
Building and enclosed the 12-foot space between the apartment building 
and the church to provide offices, restrooms, and hallway passage.
  Before the Depression, Mr. Zion sponsored both a Foreign Mission 
Pastor and a Home Mission Pastor. After World War II, the congregation 
was able to resume its commitment to both missionary fronts.
  During World War II, Mt. Zion was the first church in Pittsburgh to 
dedicate a Service Banner in honor of its 312 men and women who served 
in the military.
  Over the years the congregation has been supportive of Camp 
Lutherlyn, the Passavant Health Center, Thiel College, and Gettysburg 
Seminary. In addition, Mt. Zion has hosted YMCA meetings. It has hosted 
religious classes for students from Perry High School. And it has 
sponsored a strong Boy Scout troop for 76 years.
  Through these 125 years, fifteen pastors have served Mt. Zion. The 
longest pastorate was that of The Reverend John B. Knisley, D.D, who 
served the congregation from 1934 to 1959. The congregation has given 
twelve sons to the ordained ministry, one daughter to the diaconal 
ministry, and one daughter to commissioned missionary service.
  Today, Mt. Zion houses Allegheny community Services (a subsidiary of 
Glade Run Lutheran Services), which provides counseling services to 
youth and family, and the congregation seeks to have more of its 
building space used by social ministry agencies serving the community.
  Mt. Zion began a year-long 125th anniversary celebration in 
September. Bishop Donald J. McCoid of the Evangelical Lutheran Church's 
Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod will be preaching at the Reunion 
Celebration on October 14, 2001. In preparation for this event, the 
children of the congregation are making a paper chain with 
approximately 1,800 links. The names of those baptized over the past 
125 years are printed on the chain, with one name per link.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the congregation of Mt. Zion 
Evangelical Lutheran Church on this happy occasion and wish this 
community all of the best in the coming years.

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