Salem Walmer’s Union Church is located in Annville, Pennsylvania and was founded in 1750. It is called a Union church because it has a combined congregation of Lutheran and UCC denominations.
To suggest that this area of land is very historic, situated where it is and founded when it was, would be a huge understatement! This place is full of rich history both in and around the church.
Salem Walmer’s Church was established as a German Reformed Church in the year 1750. In the year 1800 some extensive improvements were made to the building and quite a number of Lutheran families contributed to these improvements. Because of their gifts, Lutherans were invited to worship in the building. Both congregations have enjoyed a very blessed ‘union’ since that time.
In the year 1850 a new church building was built utilizing red brick construction. This is still the same building that is worshipped in to present day.
Walmer’s Church is located in Lebanon county. At the time of Walmer’s founding, there were very few German settlers in the area. Most settlers were either Scotch or Irish. There was one German settler however by the name of Peter Walheimer. It is said that the Scotch and Irish settlers found the name Walheimer too long and difficult to pronounce, so they omitted the middle and started calling him Peter Walmer. According to history, the prevailing names in the first established congregation and in the vicinity of the church in the early 19th century were Walmer, (of course), Gerberich, Bashore, and Shuey.
Many of the current members of the congregation have grown up in Salem Walmer’s Church and some have attended this church for over 90 years! Some of the original names still exist in the church today, and many of the current members still have parents or grandparents with some of the names of the original founders. In the modern-day church, this is a very unique situation and proves a lot of loyalty by its members.
It should come as no surprise that given the German reformed heritage, it is said that some time in the past, the church service was delivered in a Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. That, of course, is not happening today, but the German styling of the church remains.
The church still has hard wooden pews (unpadded). This may be difficult for some modern-day folks to get used to, but after some time, you really forget about the lack of padding on the pews and are just brought right into the rich heritage of the building, The ceiling displays a rather large chandelier with a stucco ornate molding in German styling around it. This chandelier is an elegant antique from a few hundred years ago. The chandelier is still in good working condition and utilized to this day. The front of the church has a large mural portrait of Jesus on display above the back wall of the altar. Many churches built around the turn of the century had these murals. They were unique and reflected the reverence of worship by displaying our Lord and Savior. Many worshippers find these mural portraits of Jesus to be an amazing part of the church!
Above the portrait of Jesus is German writing that reads “Wie Heilig ist dieses stotte,” which translated into English means, “How Holy is this place”.
The altar has an elevated platform with a lectern for the pastor. This is very typical in the older German churches. In front of the altar is a 2-foot high spindle railing that surrounds the entire altar. This is another element not seen in the more modern-day churches.
The pews in Walmer’s are unique in that there is no center aisle. However, there is a center divider. There are 2 sets of pews to the left and 2 sets of pews to the right of the center divider. This divide represented a segregation of men and women. History tells us that the women and children sat on the right side, while the men sat on the left side of the sanctuary.
In addition to the divided pews, there is a balcony in the church. Though it is rarely used today, this still rings true to the traditional German style church.
One of the worship traditions at Walmer’s is that the adult Sunday School class is still run exactly like the order of a traditional Protestant worship service. This tradition was created and maintained because the pastors often had multiple churches in their charge. On Sundays when a pastor could not be at the church, the Sunday School would run the church service for that day. On occasion, we still have a few services throughout the year that are run by the Sunday School Superintendent as opposed to the pastor. As stated previously, the service flows smoothly, like a normal church worship.
As old as the church is, there were obviously many monumental upgrades along the way as advancements in society became available and affordable.
Some of those include:
1950 – Indoor plumbing
1971 – Heating system was switched from coal to oil
1977 – church ceiling was insulated
1978 – Storm windows installed
1999 – church renovations were made to makeover the existing sanctuary
In the year 1964, after 164 years of having a pastor for each congregation (Lutheran/UCC), it was decided to have only one pastor for both congregations. The year 1994 represented the first year that a female pastor was hired. To date, Linda Lindenberg has been the only female pastor to serve at Walmer’s church.
List of Reformed pastors who have served at Walmer’s Church:
1824 – 1870 Rev. John Gring
1870 – 1878 Rev. C. H. Mutschler
1878 – 1882 Rev. A. R. Bartholomew
1882 – 1889 Rev. Tobias Kessler
1889 – 1895 Rev. J. A. Wickert
1895 – 1907 Rev. W.D. Donat
1907 – 1913 Rev. H. J. Leinbach
1914 – 1924 Rev. David Scheirer
1924 – 1927 Rev. Ralph E. Starr
1927 – 1932 Rev. D. D. Brendle
1932 – 1939 Rev. Wayne A. Lutz
1940 – 1945 Rev. George E. Herbert
1946 – 1947 Rev. John Smeltzer
1948 – 1953 Rev. J. Donald Backenstose
1953 – 1960 Rev. Charles Strausbaugh
1961 – 1962 Rev. Henning
List of Lutheran pastors who have served at Walmer’s Church:
1819 – 1859 Rev. John Stein
1860 – 1867 Rev. Wm Gerhart
1868 – 1879 Rev. H Giesz
Rev. L.G. Eggers
1882 – 1885 Rev. D.M. Martens
1885 – 1888 Rev. S.B. Stupp
1889 – 1891 Rev. J Hillpot
1891 – 1895 Rev. O.S. Scheirer
1896 – 1900 Rev. B.S. Smoll
1901 – 1904 Rev. Samuel Wenrich
1906 – 1950 Rev. G.R. Deisher
1952 – 1956 Rev. Thomas A. Berg
1956 – 1964 Rev. Paul E. Whitmoyer
The following were pastors for the combined congregation:
1964 – 1970 Rev. Elias H. Phillips
1970 – 1978 Rev. Alton Barley
1978 – 1993 Rev. Arthur Yeagy
1994 – 2008 Rev. Linda Lindenberg
2008 – 2023 Pastor Robert Sim
2024 – Present Pastor Justin Swingholm
When looking around the sanctuary, you will see a library of documents and books in the front, some of them written in German and Pennsylvania Dutch. There are documents and letters in the church library that literally date back to the 1700’s and a cabinet of artifacts from the same period.
Peter Walmer, our rugged pioneer founder, often used the catchphrase “Anhalt ge-winnt” which means “Perseverance wins”. This was a slogan he practiced and especially applied to his church and spiritual life.
Many in those early church congregations not only brought the voice of God as God still speaks today, but also brought a strong sense of tradition. Along with Creeds, like the Apostle’s Creed for example, Walmer’s German heritage is still shining through its style of worship by observing many of the traditions that have been observed in the pews of Walmer’s Church for almost 275 years!