Chapter Three
Mount Zion English
Evangelical Lutheran Church

By James Wudarczyk and Jude Wudarczyk

The Reverend Isaiah Irvine is credited with the founding of the Lawrenceville English Evangelical Lutheran Church, which would later become known as Mount Zion English Evangelical Lutheran Church. Organized on March 18, 1888, at a meeting conducted at the Arsenal Bank Hall at the corner of Forty-third and Butler Streets, the church had twenty-three chartered members, with the first council consisting of elders Dr. C. Blyholder and G. H. Schauwecker and deacons H. A. Grupen, H. C. Johnston, Fred Haggle, and Jacob Regelman. Among the first order of business was the purchase of hymnals. At the first council meeting, Reverend Irvine presented a constitution in harmony with the doctrinal position of the General Synod.

During the first summer, Reverend E. B. Shaner provided for the spiritual needs of the mission. By the time of the meeting of the Synod, membership had grown to fifty-two, with a Sunday school of eighty students.

Reverend C. A. Britt was offered the position as pastor on November 10, 1888, at a salary of $700.00, part of which was to be provided by the Board of Home Missions. Reverend Britt agreed to accept the position effective January 1, 1889.

During the first year of the mission the Auditing Committee reported that $400.00 had been raised. A lot at the corner of 44th and Sherrod Streets was acquired for the sum of $4,920.00. Reverend Britt is credited with enlarging his congregation and successful financial management. He tendered his resignation August 5, 1890, to take effect the following November 1st.

During the first two-month interim between the resignation of Reverend Britt and the election of Reverend C. F. Harrah, the Reverend W. E. Main supplied the congregation’s need for a minister.

Reverend Harrah was elected at a salary of $800.00, of which $500.00 came from the mission and the balance of $300.00 being supplied by the board. He assumed the pastorate on January 1, 1891. During this period the congregation continued to grow and began to look forward to the construction of its own house of worship.

Early in 1892, plans for a new church were unanimously adopted, with a committee consisting of S. O. Kyle, John Hake, and William A. Peterson. Reverend John Weidley delivered the address at the dedication on October 3, 1892, when the corner stone was laid. Reverend C. P. Harrah conducted the dedication services. The structure at the time of dedication consisted of an audience room, primary and Bible classroom, and a kitchen. It was a great tragedy that only one week after the dedication, the church’s pastor was stricken with typhoid fever, which resulted in his death. Harrah was only 35 years of age when he passed away.

For six months there was a vacancy until the congregational meeting of September 12, 1893, announced the election of Reverend H. N. Follmer as pastor. Taking charge on October 8th, Reverend Follmer extended a branch Sabbath-school in Millvale, and it was under his tenure that on September 27, 1896, the church became self-sustaining. A second floor was erected in the spring of 1898 at a cost of $10,000.00. This new addition came at a time when the congregation still had a debt of $5,000.00 from the erection of the first floor of the edifice. About $5,000.00, however, was raised on the day of the dedication, and Andrew Carnegie donated a handsome pipe organ to the congregation the following year.

On April 29, 1900, the name of the church was changed from the Lawrenceville English Evangelical Church to the Mount Zion English Evangelical Church. Rev. Follmer continued as pastor until February 1, 1901, when the resignation that he tendered on December 23, 1900, took effect.

Some three months elapsed before Reverend C. P. Wiles began his pastorate on May 1, 1901, with installation services being conducted on May 23rd.

The history of this congregation would have been totally lost had it not been for the efforts of Reverend Ellis Beaver Burgess, who authored two books on the history of the Pittsburgh Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In Reverend burgess’ 1904 history, we are told that efforts were made to reduce the church’s debt of $7,000. Church property was valued at $28,000, and the membership numbered 400, with a Sunday school enrollment of 300 and a missionary society of 40.

Reverend Burgess informs us in his 1925 history that the last dollar of the $8,000.00 debt was paid on May 7, 1907, under the pastorate of Charles P. Wiles, who served from May 1, 1901, until March 1, 1908. Burgess wrote of Pastor Wiles as one who “endeared himself greatly to the people of Mount Zion by his clear and simple presentation of the gospel.”

Doctor Taylor B. Yeakly served as pastor from March 22, 1908, until March8, 1916, and it was under his leadership that the congregation grew and the church was given a thorough renovation at a cost of $6,229.

The next pastor was Reverend H. E. Harman, who began his tenure on October 1, 1916. It was during his pastorate that the congregation purchased the property at 4207 Sherrod Street for a parsonage. This property was eventually sold and a new parsonage was bought in 1925 on Waterford Street. Mount Zion has since become a downtown church, and all vestiges of the Lawrenceville church have long since disappeared.

After the closure of the church, the edifice became the Sacred Heart of Jesus Polish National Catholic Church in 1929. The structure was then sold to the Church of God parish in 1946. It was so severely damaged by vandals shortly afterward that the building could no longer be used and was razed.