Madison — The Hebron Lutheran Church Foundation joins in the celebration of 300 years of a Lutheran church in the hills of the Virginia Piedmont, and asks that well-wishers on both sides of the Atlantic participate in the work of the Foundation to ensure the church’s continuity in the centuries to come.
“In this year of the 300th anniversary of Hebron Lutheran Church and the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, we look forward to using new technologies to reach out to friends and descendants of this congregation to safeguard the oldest Lutheran church in America in continuous use,” said the foundation president, David Allen.
Hebron Lutheran Church had its start as a German-speaking congregation that met in a chapel in London before embarking for America. This band of German Lutherans arrived at Germanna, Virginia in 1717, at what was then the westernmost settlement in the British Empire. There they made their homes near the little fort on the Rapidan River, and worshipped with the Reformed families who had arrived in 1714 under the leadership of Rev. Johann Henrich Haeger.
After eight years at Germanna, the colony moved into the wilderness in what is now Madison County. In 1734, a delegation of the Lutheran congregation sailed to Britain and German-speaking cities to solicit funds to build a church, establish a school, and secure an assistant pastor. Through God’s provision of friends and gifts, the congregation was able to construct Hebron Lutheran Church in 1740.
It is on that heritage that the Hebron Lutheran Church Foundation was conceived in 2014 by members of the congregation to help maintain, preserve and support the existing historic church building and the congregation’s mission and outreach far into the future. Gifts of any size are gratefully appreciated.
Pursuant to that authority, the Foundation was created on August 4, 2016 and is now recognized as a charitable organization exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code.
It is governed by a five-person board of directors, of which two directors are appointed by the Council of the Church, two directors are elected from the public at large, and one director is appointed by the Germanna Foundation. The Foundation holds a reversionary interest in the Church real property, which provides that if the property ceases to be used as the regular place of meeting for the Church or any successor Christian congregation, ownership reverts to the Hebron Lutheran Church Foundation.
More: https://hebronlutheranchurchfoundation.com
https://hebronlutheranchurchfoundation.com/church/
Hebron Lutheran Church Foundation
PO Box 1542, Madison, VA 22727 (540) 407-2106
FOR RELEASE ON APRIL 30, 2017
Contact: David Allen, (540) 407-2106
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