St. Paulus Lutheran Church turned 150 years old on May 15. San Francisco has been its home for the past century and a half, and during that time, St. Paulus has seen, experienced and contributed much, reflecting the times and events of the city and the faith of the church.
When the congregation was formed, the gold rush years were just coming to an end, the country was still bandaged from the Civil War, and German immigrants had taken up residence in San Francisco. It was Jacob Buehler, a young Lutheran Church Missouri Synod pastor, who came to San Francisco not with mere curiosity, but with a commission to “shepherd Lutherans into a faith community.” In 1867, that’s what he did.
Within five years of its organization, the congregation established the first Christian day school west of the Rockies. By 1892, the congregation had grown to nearly 1,400 members, requiring the building of its famous Gothic church at the corner of Gough and Eddy streets. It survived the Great Earthquake and Fire, and the congregation gave thanks by providing its building as a hospital and shelter for more than 10,000 victims of the catastrophe.
English replaced the congregation’s native German as its worship language in 1920, and two school buildings were built in the 1950s to accommodate a growing student body. During the height of the cultural revolution of the 1960s and into the 70s and 80s, St. Paulus integrated its school, assisted in the final resting place for hundreds of victims of the Jim Jones/Guyana tragedy, welcomed people with HIV and AIDS into its ministry and fellowship, and deepened its involvement in the neighborhood.
It championed LGBTQ legitimacy in the Lutheran church in 1990 by hosting the irregular ordination of three gay candidates to the Lutheran ministry. When its landmark church burned in 1995, it continued to grow both in gospel and city witness by taking on the form of a storefront church, directing its energy and ministry among the marginal, homeless and underserved of San Francisco, while maintaining its rich liturgical and congregational life.
Looking back on its pilgrimage and ahead to its new church home rising on the ashes of its old building, the congregation seeks to ensure the welfare of its partners in ministry in San Francisco. In thanksgiving for its heritage, St. Paulus made grants totaling $300,000, giving $30,000 each to Lutheran Social Services, Sojourn Chaplaincy at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Santa Maria y Santa Marta Lutheran Church, San Francisco Interfaith Council and San Francisco Night Ministry. The congregation also gave $150,000 to Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA.
The congregation’s May 19 weekend celebration marking its 150th anniversary brought together nearly 300 people for music, food and worship celebrations, a fitting tribute to the life that continues to thrive in the ministry of St. Paulus.
Article by the Rev. Dan Solberg, pastor of St. Paulus Lutheran Church. For more information, go to saintpaulus.org.
