Kilkenny’s St. John Lutheran Church to close after 134 years

Churches around the nation have been struggling and closing in rather large numbers. The attendance at churches has dropped significantly. A Gallup poll published in 2024 showed that 43 percent of adults said they attended religious services in their 2000-2003 poll to just 30 percent in their 2021-2023 poll, dropping 12 percent.

St. John Lutheran Church in Kilkenny is no exception to this decline in attendance. Husband and wife Daryl and Alice Bosacker, long-time members of the church, have seen the change personally.

“The church was pretty full,” said Daryl Bosacker. He has been a member of the church for 81 years. The 84-year-old started attending when he was just 3-1/2 years old. His family moved here from Le Center.

Daryl Bosacker isn’t the oldest active member of the church though. Gwenlyn Sawatsky, age 90, and Geraline Kelm, 87, still attend services. The oldest living members of the church, unable to attend services, are Dorothy Zellmer, 96, and Janet Schmidtke, 94.

Alice Bosacker became a member of the church 61 years ago. “We met on a blind date,” she said. “A friend fixed us up. That was pretty common back then.” She is also the church’s bookkeeper.

Closing the church was something that had been on the minds of at least some of the congregation now for about two years. Their last regular service was Sunday to a congregation of just 10 members present. After the service, members sat in a meeting discussing closing procedures and logistics, including where important items of history of the church might be preserved or utilized at other churches.

“I could see it had to happen, plus our membership was so low there wasn’t enough hands to do the work,” said Alice Bosacker. “Up until a year ago, we were financially sound.” She says that it wasn’t until about the last three-to-four months that it became imminent.

During their meeting, members of the church were sometimes choked up about the closing. Like the Bosackers, for most of them, this was their regular worship home for much of their lives.

Daryl Bosacker recalls when he was a boy there were full congregations with a Christmas tree that reached the rafters. “There hasn’t been a Sunday school class here in 20 years,” he said. “Families have grown up and moved away. There is nothing here to keep them here.”

Rev. John Stern, of Apple Valley, presided over their last regular service on Sunday. “I started doing services here about two-and-a-half years ago,” said Stern. It is a 100-mile round trip for him. He retired 20 years ago and has been preaching at various churches in  similar situations around the area.

“This is the sixth church in the last few years to close,” said Stern. “They’ve (St. John) been without a pastor for some time.” For the past two years the church has been operating without a regular pastor, relying on retired pastors to hold their services.

“We couldn’t afford the insurance, health insurance, to have a regular pastor here,” said Alice Bosacker.

Each member of the church seems to be taking their own route to where they will find replacement services. “We trust that God will look over these people,” said Stern. “It’s been my pleasure to serve them in such a wonderful way. There is a future, and we have to believe that He will care for them.”

About the church

Origins of the church stretch back to 1889 when 13 people met for the purpose of having services in the area. They rented a building for two-and-a-half years before formalizing in 1891 and building the first church, also in 1891, north of Sabre Lake on the south side of County 2 (440th Street) and east side of County 5 (Cannon River Road) near the Cannon River, roughly three miles west of Kilkenny. Logs from along the Cannon River were cut into lumber and used to build the church on land that was donated to the church by Ike Peach.

The cemetery resided on the north side of the County 5 across and east from the church, donated by Herman Michaels.

The original church was used until 1926, when a new brick church was constructed by the members at its current location in Kilkenny. The old church was sold and moved to Le Center and used as a home. The land was donated back to Peach.

The church was a member of the American Lutheran Church (ALA) until 1946, when it withdrew from the church. It then became a part of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) in 1948.

St. John Lutheran Church’s current location, on North Laurel Avenue between Oak Street and Dodd Road (County 2), seats about 180 people and has a small basement hall with a kitchen that was used for Sunday school, church breakfasts and other functions. It was heated originally by a coal-fired furnace, which has now been replaced with a gas furnace.

The church has been sold and the new owner will take possession of it on Jan. 6, 2025. It is unclear at this time what will be the purpose for its new owner.

Sabre Lake Cemetery will change its name to Sabre Lake Lutheran Cemetery and funds from the sale of the church will be used to keep the cemetery property up, according to Alice Bosacker.

Timeline

1889 First gathering of members

1891 First church built at Sabre Lake and formerly organized under ALA

1894 Church is incorporated

1927 Second and current church built in Kilkenny

1946 Church withdraws from ALA

1948 Joins the LCMS

2025 Church closes

A final goodbye

A final service will be held at the church this Sunday, Jan. 5, at 4 p.m. with a dinner to follow in the church basement. Pastors who have preached at the church in the past and possible other area pastors will be in attendance at the service. Anyone with memories of the church is encouraged to attend this service before the church changes hands. There will not be the regular 9:30 a.m. service on this Sunday.

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