History

A long heritage of faith

Originally of Oakville, now of Mediapolis, Iowa

Near the beginning of 1900, several older members from the Gridley, Illinois Apostolic Christian Church visited the Mississippi River/lowa River bottomland area of Huron Township, Des Moines County and Eliot Township, Louisa County, near the town of Oakville and community of Huron. They looked over the area, and upon their advice, six Apostolic Christian families from central Illinois settled on farmland here. The family names were Gerst, Fischer, Yackley, Glaser and Voelpel.

In that same decade the families of Rauhaus, Reiman, Kuntz, Frank, Siegle, and Stoller arrived. In the next decade the Schrock, Wagenbach, Kupferschmid, Perdelwitz, and Vierling families settled here. In the first 30 years of the 1900s numerous other families came, but then moved away. Families who came in the 1930s included the Wiegands, Heinigers, Massners, Grimms, Millers, and Scheitlins.

At first the newly formed congregation met in family homes for services and on one occasion met in the one-room Williams school. Nearby, in 1903 construction of the first church building was begun and was occupied in 1904. It was located on the southeast corner of 42^nd Avenue and 260^th Street, Huron Township. In the mid-1930s to accommodate the growing congregation, this building was moved to a location on the bluff side of Highway 99 about 3 miles south of Oakville and remodeled which included a basement. At this time there were approximately 35 families attending.

On Sunday, November 5, 1944, the congregation arrived to see the church aflame, resulting in a total loss. Due to war-time restrictions the new brick building could not be completed until 1947. During the interim other facilities were used including the Oakville Presbyterian church for afternoon services only. The new edifice was dedicated on February 15, 1948. In 1967 a major addition to the building was constructed, providing for a new dining room, kitchen, and baptistry on the main floor. Additional Sunday School facilities were provided in the basement.

In 1953 the first recorded membership of the church included 170 members and 110 children in the Sunday School. In 1959 a new congregation was formed in Burlington in a church building on South and Garfield which was originally obtained to provide mid-week evening services in 1955. The new congregation was comprised of Oakville members who resided in Burlington or nearby. Oakville ministers initially conducted the services. Later the church had its own ministers as it does today. In 1962 Oakville had 184 members and 142 in Sunday School, while Burlington had 38 members and 25 in Sunday School. In 2022, Burlington has grown to 60 members and 29 in Sunday School.

Beginning in 2009 the decision was made to erect a new building in Mediapolis. Construction began in 2010 and was completed by the end of 2012. On January 13, 2013 the first services were conducted in the new church building located on Lofgren Drive in Mediapolis. Open house was on Saturday, February 23, 2013, with dedication service on Sunday, February 24. As of 2022 Mediapolis membership was 196 with 96 students, and an average Sunday attendance of 338.

The first ministers in the Oakville church, installed between 1902 and 1905, were Peter Glaser, Albert Reiman and Henry Gerst Sr. In 1918 during World War I the Governor of Iowa issued an edict requiring that no foreign languages be used in public places. The German language was spoken exclusively at the time. So, in July 1918, the congregation installed Noah Schrock (age 25) and William Rauhaus (age 34) as ministers who could preach in English.

Until 1940 elders from other congregations were counselling elders for the Oakville congregation, including Andrew Rapp (Morton IL), Michael Mangold (Roanoke IL), Emil Schubert (Peoria IL), and Elias Winzeler (Tremont IL).

On May 10, 1940 Noah Schrock was ordained as the first resident elder of the Oakville congregation. Later elders ordained after the previous elder retired were: Edward Lanz Jr on April 13, 1975; Jon Schmidgall on June 3, 2001; and Dave Lanz on August 28, 2022.

Other ministers who have served or are currently serving: Gust Scheitlin, John Wagenbach Sr, Harvey Heiniger, John Steiner, Jerry Kuntz, Dale Frank, Gerald Wagenbach Jr, Tom Lanz, Mark Schmidgall, and Kory Wagenbach.