Fonds luth-1995 - St. John's Lutheran Church fonds

Work began in the Mannville area by R. Hildebrant in 1917, 1918 among the German Lutherans in the Vegreville district but the congregation was not organized until 1926. The founding meeting for St. John's Lutheran church was held in June 1928 under the direction of Pastor R.E.Lueing and a Sunday School was organized at that time as well. The following month they decided to affiliate with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod which allowed them to consider the construction of a church building on lots donated by the town of Vegreville. The Church was built with volunteer labour and dedicated on December 9, 1928. The congregation was part of the Vegreville-Manville Parish and in 1945 the areas around Tofield and Bruce were also served. The first resident pastor, Rev. Nast moved to Vergreville in 1959. The congregation sold their old church to the Baptist congregation and built a new church on 4.8 acres in 1962. In 1977 they sold the extra property which was made into a subdivision. The congregation joined the newly formed Lutheran Church-Canada synod in 1988.

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod missionaries from Minnesota come into the area around Bruce prior to 1921. After 1921 Pastor Kuring led one service a month in German in private homes or the Old Flint School House which was shared with the United Church. A Sunday School was started with 11 students. In 1931 Rev. E. C. Zschoche served the area as part of a circuit which included Ferintosh, Holden, Duhamel, Bashaw, Lougheed and Killam. He was assisted at times by other pastors serving at other points. In 1934 the Old Flint School House burned down and the congregation, led by Pastor H. Hennig, decided to build a church using their own volunteer labour. They became the centre of the Bruce parish which included Tofield. From 1938 to 1943 Rev. Maschmeyer served the parish out of Vegreville. In 1943 Rev. Wessler served Tofield, Holden and Bruce and held the majority of services in English. In 1945 Bruce was added to the Vegreville -- Mannville parish with the pastor resident in Mannville. In 1959 the pastor was moved to a new parsonage in Vegreville. The Bruce Lutheran Women's Missionary League was formed in 1964 and the congregation rented the school in Bruce for Sunday School classes until 1983. In 1966 an addition was built onto the church. A reorganization of the circuit took place in 1980 when Mannville was added to the Vermilion Parish and Vegreville formed a parish with Bruce. Pastor Rumsch was called to served the Bruce - Vegreville parish and by 1983 Bruce congregation was self supporting. The congregation joined the newly formed Lutheran Church-Canada in 1988.