Minutes north of Wausau in the Village of Maine, St. John Immanuel Lutheran Church serves a rural community whose history reaches to 1866. It is known for traditional ELCA worship centered on the Word, song, communion, and hospitality. The congregation now carries two names, St. John and Immanuel, into one shared ministry under Pastor Maggie Westaby. Its identity is found not only in an old log church and a long line of pastors, but also in Sunday school, adult study, communal meals, support for neighbors experiencing homelessness, and the mission of loving God by loving people.
Two Congregations, One Shared Ministry
St. John and Immanuel already shared a long institutional history before becoming one congregation in 2025. Official conversations began on August 10. Immanuel held its final service on September 7, and the congregations first worshiped together at St. John on September 14. After Reformation and Confirmation worship on October 26, people in both congregations voted unanimously to merge, and the union took effect October 31. At the annual meeting on February 1, 2026, they adopted St. John Immanuel Lutheran Church as the shared name.
At the first joined worship, Pastor Maggie Westaby rededicated Immanuel's baptismal font and blessed the merging congregations. On All Saints Sunday, November 2, water from both fonts was brought together as a sign of their shared life. Pastor Maggie's blessing asked God to knit the congregations into one body, make their diversity a strength, and make their unity a sign of God's kingdom. It also called them to welcome the stranger, tend the weary, lift up the poor, and proclaim Christ with joy.
The resulting name keeps both histories visible. St. John carries the story of German settlers, home worship, and a log church founded in 1866. Immanuel brings another century of Lutheran worship, education, service, and community life. Together they now share one sanctuary in Wausau's Village of Maine and one mission of serving God, one another, the community, and the wider church by sharing God's love.
Sunday at Nine: Word, Song, Communion, and Fellowship
Sunday worship begins at 9:00 a.m. and is a traditional ELCA service led by Pastor Maggie Westaby. The congregation listens to the Word, welcomes all people to communion, and rejoices in song. Communion is an open table, and the service concludes with an invitation to stay for fellowship, coffee, treats, and conversation.
Drivers coming from Wausau can take Highway 51 exit 194B, travel north on Highway K for about 2.5 miles, and turn left on Fleet Drive. After another half mile, the church stands at the top of the hill. From the north, Highway 51 exit 197 leads to Highway WW; traveling west one mile, continuing through the Highway K and Town Hall Road intersection, and turning left on 44th Avenue brings drivers to the church on the right in about half a mile.
Virtual worship is available through the congregation's Facebook presence and its YouTube channel. A substantial collection of recorded worship services is organized by date, month, topic, speaker, and biblical book. The subjects range across the church year, including Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Reformation, as well as faith, grace, love, healing, prayer, relationships, and Christian life.
From the Log Church to the 1989 Sanctuary
1866: A Congregation Begins in Homes and a Log Church
German settlers arrived in the area in great numbers between 1850 and 1866. Circuit-rider pastors J.J. Hoffman and William Hudtloff served these families, and worship was held in settlers' homes. About a dozen local families then decided that a dedicated church was needed. On January 9, 1866, they received land from Friedrich and Johanna Hint and formed the German St. John Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. They built a log church where the cemetery now stands, establishing a place of worship that continues more than 160 years later.
Worship was held every Sunday and on religious holidays. During the early years, Pastors Albert and Kern served St. John while also serving St. Paul in Wausau. Rev. F. Reinicke continued that arrangement from 1872 until 1895. Confirmands traveled into Wausau for instruction and were confirmed at St. Paul or, later, St. Stephen. When a pastor could not arrive, someone from the congregation led worship. Many families owned sermon books, and Ernst Dehnel became a prominent reader during those years.
1895: Families Build a Brick Church
The women of the log church determined that the congregation needed a larger building. A woman donated a corner plot from her family farm for the project, and women visited area families to collect money and secure pledges. Twenty-nine families contributed to the building effort. A builder was hired for $400, the congregation delivered materials, and families donated labor whenever farm work allowed. Farm wagons regularly carried lumber and other supplies to the location.
The brick church was dedicated at the first worship service in August 1895. Its first marriage took place that November, and its first baptism followed soon afterward. Art glass windows were installed in 1945. A small white education building erected in 1911 had cost $311 and provided space for Sunday school, religious instruction, and choir practice; it served until it was sold in 1959.
Education, Youth, and Shared Ministry
Rev. Jacob Reiff, the congregation's longest-serving pastor, began serving in 1927. He organized the first youth group, the Jugend Verein, later known as the Luther League. He continued conducting worship solely in German until his retirement in 1945. During the next era, the congregation formed its Brotherhood in 1946, began a voluntary system for janitorial work in 1953, and excavated a basement and purchased a heating system in 1957. A two-year teaching mission in New Guinea began in 1964.
St. John and Immanuel had already shared pastoral connections before the modern merger. Rev. August Koepp became St. John's first dedicated pastor in 1910 while already serving Immanuel. He began the surviving collection of baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burial records. In 1923, the congregations formed a parish, and Immanuel's building was moved from Taegesville to the Town of Stettin. They consolidated again in 1969. St. John acquired three additional acres by 1971, giving it four acres for future development, and a Parish Hall was dedicated in 1973 for Christian education, fellowship meetings, and receptions.
1989: A New Sanctuary and a Continuing Pastorate
Under Rev. Frank Kauzlarich, a building committee studied the congregation's needs in 1987. The congregation approved a new church in 1988, and ground was broken that August. John Ohrmundt Construction Company built the sanctuary, narthex, and basement. The former brick church, which had served for nearly 94 years, was demolished in April 1989. The first worship in the new building took place on April 23, and the dedication followed on August 6. A bell tower was added in 1999.
Rev. Dan Sire served from 2007 through 2021. Maggie Westaby accepted a call to St. John in July 2022 and now leads worship, teaching, and pastoral care as pastor of the combined St. John Immanuel congregation. Her call came after a succession of more than twenty pastors stretching back to the circuit riders and continuing through the log and brick churches.
Growing from PreK to Adult Study
Sunday school is open to children from preK through sixth grade. Classes meet from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. during the September-May program, after Sunday worship. Children learn that Jesus loves them while investigating Bible stories, singing, crafting, and growing in faith together. There are no attendance requirements, and families are invited to participate as they are able.
The Sunday school year includes Rally Sunday and the blessing of backpacks, a children's Christmas program, an Easter egg hunt, and a Christmas pizza and pajama gathering. These events connect Bible teaching with the rhythms of the church year and give younger children familiar ways to take part in congregational life.
Confirmation classes meet on Wednesdays from September through Easter. Vacation Bible School is offered during the last full week of June. The congregation also supports current college students through the St. John Immanuel Lutheran Scholarship and the Orton and Segrid Enstad Scholarship Fund.
Adult education options change throughout the year but include Adult Bible Study and Pastor Maggie's Book Club. The reading groups have explored fiction, memoir, spiritual growth, and books on Lutheran teaching. Bible study has covered the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Book of James, What Is the Bible? by Rob Bell, and Roots of Our Faith by James A. Nestingen. The varied reading list creates room for conversation about faith alongside broader literature.
Meals and Essentials for Wausau
St. John Immanuel's mission includes serving people beyond the church building. The congregation joins other Wausau churches in supporting Sunday Community Meals at First United Methodist Church. The free hot supper is served in a carry-out style outside the north entrance to anyone who requests a meal. St. John Immanuel helps provide the nutritious meal and the human interaction that can accompany it.
The Marty Bus provides another direct expression of that mission. Operated by the Community Outreach Task Force, it offers meals and other essentials to unhoused people in the Wausau area every Wednesday and Friday. Meals are served at the Hmong American Center, 1109 N 6th Street. St. John Immanuel helps provide a meal for approximately 60 people on scheduled dates, combining food with presence and companionship.
A monthly noisy offering has supported both local hunger work and youth ministry. Fuel for the Future addresses weekend food insecurity and school-lunch debt in Marathon County and the Wausau School District. Youth offerings support programs, events, and activities that help young people grow in faith and fellowship.
Community suppers, a chili dinner and raffle, Kwik Trip gift cards, restaurant receipt fundraisers, and online giving provide additional ways to support church work. These efforts connect the congregation's Sunday life with its ongoing commitment to neighbors facing hunger, poverty, and instability.
The Rhythms of a Rural Congregation
Long-term organizations continue to shape the congregation's life. The Brotherhood, formed in 1946, still meets. The Sisterhood grew from a women's organization established in 1923 that later became the Ladies Aide and the ALCW. Quilting meets on Wednesday mornings from September through May, while the bell choir practices on Thursdays during the same general season. These groups extend fellowship beyond Sunday morning and give people regular opportunities to work and gather together.
The annual rhythm moves through the church year and the community calendar. Wednesday suppers accompany Lent, while Holy Week, an Easter egg hunt, and spring gatherings follow. A spring cleanup invites people to bring their tractors to the church, and an early-summer bingo gathering includes an ice cream social. Rally Sunday brings the blessing of backpacks near the beginning of the school year. The chili dinner and raffle usually take place at the end of September or in early October, and Reformation and Confirmation worship closes the fall calendar. A pie social follows in November.
Advent and Christmas bring further gatherings, including a Blue Christmas observance and Christmas Eve worship at 2:30 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. The Sisterhood holds a Christmas gathering, and other meals and programs fill the season. These recurring activities reflect a congregation whose worship, study, service, and fellowship are interwoven throughout the year.
Love Shared in Word and Action
St. John Immanuel describes itself as a fellowship of believers committed to serving God, serving each other, serving the community, and serving the wider church by sharing God's love. Jesus' command in John 15:12 gives that mission its center: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” The congregation understands this love not as a distant idea but as a call to be practiced together in daily life.
The teaching of Jesus also includes the promise in Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” At St. John Immanuel, that shared life is expressed through traditional Lutheran worship, open communion, singing, education for children and adults, fellowship around food, support for students, and practical care for people in Wausau. Love remains the center of this shared Christian life in the Village of Maine.