Our History | Grace Lutheran

History of Grace Lutheran Church

The history of Grace Lutheran is intertwined with the history of St. John's Academy of Petersburg. Pastor Arthur E. Krause of the Thorn Creek Lutheran Parish in Moyers, WV was concerned that there was an extreme lack of education along the South Branch Valley. He proposed an idea of a high school to the Joint Synod of Ohio meeting in Hickory, North Carolina in 1916 for the purpose of using the monies from the sale of the closed Seminary property in Hickory, NC for the building of a high school in the South Branch Valley. Four sites were considered including: Brandywine and Moyers in Pendleton County, Moorefield in Hardy County and Petersburg in Grant County. Petersburg offered to provide eight-acres of land and a gift of 5,000 dollars as incentive to bring the high school to their area. The General Assembly of the Synod agreed and Pastor Krause was appointed the chairman of the new school and began the building program. World War 1 halted construction for awhile and it wasn't until 1919 that work was resumed on the project. The Academy opened it's first full year school class in 1921 with 43 students and at its height had an enrollment of 88 students. It offered classes in all areas including Bible classes which each student spent a year studying Luther's Small Catechism.

The congregation of Grace Lutheran grew out of the faculty and staff/students who attended the Academy. Sunday services were held in the auditorium of the Academy. In 1931, St. John's Academy was converted to a Junior college and the congregation then met in the gymnasium of the college until the college's closure in 1933 due to the Great Depression. The Council of Grace Lutheran church bought a piece of land on Pine Street and constructed a church in 1939 which still stands today with a few renovations over the years. The memory of the St. John's Academy is still kept alive with mementos and other items kept from when it closed and are cherished by the members of Grace. In 1955, St. Matthew closed in Masonville and merged with Grace to form the present-day congregation.