Meladi Brewer
DailyAdvocate.com

WEBSTER — The region’s last remaining log church will soon hold a homecoming celebration.

The St. Peter Church will hold a homecoming service the third Sunday in September, on Sept. 19, 2021.

St. Peter Church in Webster was built around 1850 during the period of settlement and continued to hold services until 1905. Settlers from Germany and Prussia came and settled in the area. The church was at the midpoint for all the families.

Richard “Dick” Shumaker and his wife have the key to the church and personal family ties. Shumaker has his great-great-grandmother’s Sunday school book with her handwriting from when she went to church at St. Peter.

“My German ancestor, 3rd great-grandfather was the bell player,” Shumaker said. “He made 65 cents a year in wages. Our grand kids are still doing it today.”

The church is well preserved and holds tight to a majority of the original architecture, pews, and literature down to the original German Bible. Homemade Christmas ornaments can be found in the back cupboard, but the grandest piece of them all is the pedal organ.

The organ resonates in the church and brings a classic feeling most church goers long for. Sleeping in church is out of the question, as the organ reverberates through listeners’ chests with each keystroke. If one is able to fall asleep, be weary of the clink boinks.

“The ushers would send it and when money was dropped into the basket, the coins would go clink,” Shumaker said. “When you fall asleep, they go boink.”

The Shumakers help with the church’s upkeep, and they always know who to thank when help comes their way.

“God takes care of the place. I just have the key to the door,” Shumaker said.

The church is located two miles down St. Peters Road, just off of S.R. 185.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer email [email protected].