The Church at Auroraville
The story of a single witness
who inspired many to seek
their salvation in the church
they built in a quiet farmland
village of Central Wisconsin.
A story of faith,
of witness,
and dedication!
An acknowledgement
and tribute
to the pioneers of
Pentecost!
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Version II: January, 2010
This version is for online viewing
The Church at Auroraville
was located in the
Village of Auroraville, Wisconsin.
Its congregation would be
known today as one affiliated with
The United Pentecostal Church, International.
The story of this church begins around 1920.
It was a significant representative of
Pentecost in the State of Wisconsin
for the thirty years of its existence!
Those who contributed in telling this
story are listed in the Appendix.
The story was compiled
by Jon Hardt,
the son of Samuel and Sadie Hardt,
who were once pastors at
the Church at Auroraville.
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The Church at Auroraville
is a story about a
Pentecostal church that grew in an unlikely spot
and nourished the faith of the many who came into
its faith and found salvation at its altar, and how
these folks and their children and grandchildren
went forth and became servants for our Lord!
How these folks with meager means built a
church that became a Lighthouse
for Pentecost, spreading this
message throughout the entire region!
Most importantly, it is a story about the power of
being an example and a witness for Pentecost
as this church was founded on the witnessing
of a single individual!
Telling this story acknowledges the depth of Love
we owe to those early pioneers of Pentecost
who gave so much physically and financially to
bring us the Pentecostal message
so that we might know His way
Today!
Here is the story:
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PENTECOST ARRIVES
IN
AURORAVILLE, WISCONSIN
WISCONSIN
The timeframe: early 1900’s. Like many of our pioneer pastors and
evangelists who we wish to acknowledge for their sacrifices and perseverance
back when they struggled through difficult economic times to teach us about
Pentecost, there are pioneer churches spread across this country that merit
our same honor, respect and gratitude.
Some of these are still active, others consolidated, some now only memories,
yet all singular forces in establishing Pentecost in their part of the world. We
could and perhaps should place monuments at these sites that state:
Here is where Pentecost was established in this part of the world,
where folks found their soul salvation, where folks were baptized
in the name of JESUS, where folks went forth for the rest of their
lives to carry on His good works by their example and their
witness. These pioneering efforts gave us, you and me, the
opportunity to experience and proclaim the same today!
Placing such a monument on behalf of the Church at Auroraville
would be a most appropriate acknowledgement!
************
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The Church (building) at Auroraville, 1927
Many folks from the congregation of the Church at Auroraville have
long gone on to their just rewards! Fortunately the question about the
founding of this church, which certainly was in a rather unlikely location,
was asked in time to establish the story of how the church and the
corresponding revival came about. A few who know this story still
remain with us today! One contributor to this story, Esther Haskins,
was there, a part of the early Green Lake house meetings, the basis for
this whole story. She is just 96 years young as this report is being
written and still rejoicing in her decision to serve the Lord each day from
way back then. A list of other contributors is posted at the end of this
story. 1
Here is their story. It all starts with the rebirth of Pentecost in America:
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PENTECOST REBIRTH
Historians may be able to point to several significant moments around the
turn of the century which were contributing factors in the rebirth of Pentecost in
America. Most would agree that it was at the historical revival of Azuza Street
in Los Angles that started in 1906 that Pentecost moved from a few isolated
representations to a movement of force, respect and significance. It was the
year that the Hardt family arrived in America.
The news of the events of Azuza Street spread through the religious world.
People came from around the world to witness this phenomenon and then
returned to their own homes to communicate what they had witnessed and
what had happened to them. Soon churches everywhere were joining the
revival of Pentecost! By 1914, organizational structures developed to aid
existing churches in transition and support the development of new churches
born out of this rebirth of Pentecost.
Several of today’s fundamental Pentecostal organizations such as the
Assemblies of God, Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, and the United
Pentecostal Church International are the continuing efforts of those
organizational objectives.
One of the early and effective pioneers of Pentecost was a Persian immigrant
named Andrew Urshan. He was an articulate spokesman of the faith and one
of the principal architects of the Pentecostal movement. For several years, he
was based in St. Paul, Minnesota, a location central to the growth of Pentecost
in the north central part of our country. The churches in which he preached
and taught were of the oneness apostolic Pentecostal faith. Most all of these
churches are now organized within the United Pentecostal Church
International.
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Many churches that came into Pentecost in the 1920’s in Wisconsin,
Minnesota, and Iowa were established by efforts of those connected to the St
Paul revival. The Church at Auroraville certainly began that way as this story
will tell!
The tiny and picturesque village of Auroraville (about 1918) where
in a few years Pentecost was about to come to town!
The Cheese factory which later became the first
Church at Auroraville
is located at the left on this picture with the
waters of the Mill Pond reflecting below it.
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THE CHURCH at AURORAVILLE
Auroraville a small sleepy village in the middle of picturesque farm land
located about a hundred miles north and slightly west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
was an unlikely place to start a church. It had one already, a Methodist Church
not well attended. And, there were only a couple folks in Auroraville itself who
had even been to a Pentecostal service. However, when the growing group of
Pentecostals in the area looked at a map and tried to locate a site most close
to everyone, it was the Village of Auroraville that fit that purpose.
A vacant store building just west of the village was found available and
became the first Pentecostal meeting house in East-Central Wisconsin. This
site was short lived as it soon became much too small. However, the church
at Auroraville was off and running. Of course, it was not the three buildings
that over time would eventually house the congregation and visitors from near
and far, the church was the message it conveyed and those that accepted it
and followed in its way! There would be many2!
This then is the Church at Auroraville story. How Pentecost came to this
sleepy village and stirred the hearts and souls of those near and far until the
word of the revival happening there was known throughout the whole Midwest.
Yet, its development as we shall see, from the first witness to the first pastor
and church building, was a remarkably short timeframe!
Many Pentecostals in the Midwest know of Samuel and Sadie Harrington
Hardt evangelists and pastors3. This was the church of Sadie Harrington,
where at the very early age of ten, she came into this church and brought
eventually her entire family. We will tell some of the Harrington contribution to
Pentecost later. She met Samuel, married, and as husband and wife they
would pastor this congregation, their first such role together after several years
of evangelism.
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Lee Harrington, older brother of Sadie by two full years, reported to his family
in a recorded message the following story of his introduction to Pentecost at
Auroraville:
I was about twelve years old when one sunny
day I decided to take a walk into town and see
what was happening maybe see some of my
friends (the Harrington farm was just over a mile
from the village center). I was quite a ways from
the main road when I began to see a lot of traffic
as if it were the Fourth of July. I wondered what
was going on? Along came a neighbor. “Lee!”
he said, “You got to get down there. They are
dunking folks in the Millpond!”
“Doing what,” I said.
“Baptizing!
yourself!”
Get on down there and see for
I never heard of baptizing so I went on down to
see for myself. The banks of the Millpond just
below the dam* were full of people watching just
like me and another line of folks standing by the
water. Then a fellow in the water would invite
one in the line to come to him. He would raise
his hands to heaven and pray a bit then dunk the
person in the pond. There was considerable
praying and shouting and then another person
would get dunked or baptized! I had no idea
what was going on.
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He was not the only one. Folks came for miles to see for themselves
what they were hearing from family and friends. Many just came and
confirmed what they had been hearing. Many stayed and would be
found later joining those in the line at the river waiting their turn for their
baptism, the beginning of their soul salvation and serving our Lord the
rest of their lives.
Lee himself was one!
Little then did he realize then that in a few short months his sister Sadie
would lead their family into Pentecost and that he and they would be
the ones standing in line at the old Millpond to be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ! That he would one day travel with this family as
witnesses, evangelists, of the Pentecostal message.
However, that’s exactly what happened!
****************
Note: The village had originally been named, “Daniel’s Mills” for the
saw and grist mills located there. The ladies of the village decided it
would it be better named “Aurora” meaning “a new beginning!” Since
there were several known communities with this name, “Auroraville”
became the accepted choice. This name would become most fitting for
those that stepped forth and became the Pentecostals of Auroraville!
Also, the village was built next to a dam that formed a large lake called
by the locals “The Millpond” because it provided water and power to
operate a gristmill, the principle economy and attraction of the town.
Farmers brought their grains to the mill to be ground for cattle feed,
then stopped to do some shopping while there.
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The Church at Auroraville
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Forming the Church
How a single witness started it all!
There are many interesting aspects of the Auroraville church: First in the MidWest to hold State-wide Ministerial Conferences, Divine Healing Revivals,
Minister Training opportunities, and so on! To me, the great story, though, is
how the church was built on the desire of its members to witness. In fact, this
church had its start by the witnessing of a single soul!
Here is that story!
**********
There may have been better places to live in the early 1900’s than around the
village of Green Lake, Wisconsin; not by much, however. Two youngsters
Rosa and Carl Ebert, born before the turn of the century, were among those
who did, growing up on a farm just a short ways from this village which
prospered as a popular resort site. Neither one knew they would grow up to
be the ones who would bring the Pentecostal message to their part of the
world. In fact, it would be quite sometime before they would even learn there
was such a thing as Pentecost. Once they did, their world, and for others,
would greatly change!
Carl not only learned faming from his father, but skills in carpentry and
building. He had a great start on becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Learning about Pentecost changed that a bit. Long before this, however, he
married Martha Frank and they became the parents of two daughters (a third
would arrive a bit later).
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Rosa, who had blossomed into a fine young lady, caught the eye of Edward
Oelke who like Carl grew up on a farm there and had skills in carpentry as
well. He would eventually become the builder of many homes in that area.
They became the parents of two sons!
Life for each couple was good based on the economy of the times and might
not have changed much had not Carl and Martha decided to test some of his
business ideas and move to where they felt these ideas showed promise. It
was northwestern Wisconsin that he chose. And sometime after 1915, this
family arrived in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Perhaps he believed that the growing
automobile industry which was supported by this city was going to create jobs
and the folks filling these jobs would want to buy homes. He certainly could
build them, and did, as this economy would unfold.
In any case, he was certainly correct about the need for new homes in Eau
Claire. His skills as a builder and contractor should have led this family to
considerable wealth! As it turned out, this was not quite to be. Instead this
family would build spiritual wealth when Pentecost became the priority of this
family!
Carl opened a confectionary store in a downtown Eau Claire hotel. He and
Martha ran this while he began exploring home building opportunities. Then,
they would say, a wonderful thing happened. They were introduced to
Pentecost!
One day while Martha was running the candy store, an individual came into
the store passing out invitations to a local camp meeting introducing folks to
Pentecost. He also had some posters advertising this event and asked if one
might be placed in the store window. Martha placed the poster in the store
window and began to wonder just what such a meeting might be like and just
what Pentecost was all about!
It turns out that to find out; she went to one of these meetings by herself. It
must have been a spectacular meeting because Martha was convinced at this
single session that this was something her soul had been longing for and she
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decided she wanted to learn more and experience the joy that she saw
witnessed by those at the meeting.
She returned home and explained to Carl as best she could what she had
learned about this thing called Pentecost and invited him to join her and see
for himself. If his wife was this impressed with this service he probably felt
there would be no harm placating her wish so he agreed to join her in one of
these services. So they went to the next meeting!
Carl Ebert responded the same way that Martha did to this Pentecostal
message. It was not long before both were baptized and shortly thereafter
were filled with the Holy Spirit! Their lives and its direction changed forever!
Eau Claire is quite a ways away from the tiny village of Auroraville. At that
time, it was probably close to 175 miles of travel on unpaved roads.
Nevertheless, it was here that the first step of the birth and development of the
Church at Auroraville began!
**********
The Ebert’s had been in Pentecost only a short
time when his sister Rosa Oelke and son came
for a visit.
Rosa’s visit brought her right into the middle of
the Pentecostal enthusiasm in Eau Claire where
another landmark church was forming under the
guidance of Joseph Rulien, the spiritual father
of many Pentecostal saints, and especially that
of her newly converted brother. It was not long
before she realized that what had transpired in
the lives of her brother and sister-in-law was
something she needed to know more about.
Pastor Rulien of the Eau
Claire Church
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She set about studying God’s Word and was soon convinced that this was
something she too needed in her life. She began to seek God’s grace and
soon stepped forward to be baptized. Shortly thereafter she received the Holy
Spirit and began to tell all about this life changing event!
This was the month of March in the year 1919!
Rosa Ebert Oelke about to began her
over half-century journey in Pentecost,
studying her Bible, and witnessing for her Lord!
*************
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Pentecost on the move: St Paul to Eau Claire and now…!
All too soon it was time to leave the supportive environment of the Eau Claire
congregation of Pentecostals and her brother and sister-in-law and return to
Green Lake to be the only Pentecostal believer in town, something she would
soon set about to correct!
So homeward she went and soon was telling her husband, her sister Lydia,
and friends about her new found Pentecostal experience and encourage them
to pursue this wonderful experience themselves, to find their salvation!
This is how the Pentecostal message was
carried to Green Lake. It was just four years later
that her witnessing had grown in numbers
enabling the congregation formed to formally
initiate the Church at Auroraville by acquiring their
first church building and pastor!
This all because, like those in the parable of the
talents, she chose not to hide and protect her new
found gift, but to share and grow her new found
joy with others! She would and did become a most
successful witness of Pentecost! Here is just some
of that story.
Pastor Ebert: Carpenter,
Preacher, Teacher....
Rosa was full of enthusiasm and began telling
anyone who would listen about her experience. It was a great undertaking.
She had never done anything like this (witnessing), yet she was remarkably
successful in getting folks to stop and listen to her message. She had to first
tell Edward her husband all about her conversion and the great joy she was
experiencing. Hopefully he would also be able to experience this gift! Edward
appears to have been a bit skeptical or certainly reserved about her testimony.
However, when Rosa began witnessing to her neighbors and inviting them
over for Bible Studies, he did not object and supported her fully. Apparently his
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doubts were overcome for he became a witness himself! One who was not
skeptical was her sister Lydia. Lydia not only saw the great change in the life
of her sister, but saw and understood the Biblical scriptures of Pentecost. She
was able to explain all this to her husband, William Rayback, and he was
converted as well! Both served in the Church at Auroraville all the days of their
lives! As for Rosa, there was much more she planned to do!
The Oelke home became the focus for the Pentecostal message in this area.
There were Bible studies and prayer meetings held some scheduled, some
not. It was getting too much for Rosa. She called on her brother Carl for help
and his response was the start of the Carl Ebert family returning to their home
to spread the gospel and, eventually, to Carl becoming the builder and pastor
of the church formed at Auroraville a few years later.
The Silver Creek ran conveniently behind the Oelke’s home. Soon the town
was witness to folks being baptized in the creek behind the Oelke home. Of
course word about these happenings spread quickly and more folks started
stopping by the Oelke’s to learn what these baptisms were all about. She told
them about Pentecost! Rosa was on a roll! And surprisingly, soon she was
not the only witness for Pentecost and our Lord in Green Lake!
It appears that there was considerable interested in Rosa’s meetings and
message. “Have you been over to the Oelke’s and heard Rosa talk about
Pentecost?” may well have been the conversation topic around the town.
Here is one example of how this word spread and how folks came into
Pentecost and established this faith in this part of the State of Wisconsin!
**************
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The Edward Oelke Family
Rosa, Reuben, and Jimmy
Taken shortly after the Church at Auroraville was formed.
************
Carl Trittin was a quiet and scholarly gentleman who
said he was a teacher not a preacher. A teacher he
was leading many to the understanding of Pentecost
and particularly baptism in the name of our Lord! He
was willing to travel wherever if someone would
request he come and conduct a few days of Bible
study. He had a large family and this was not always
easy to find the time, but he did. Many Pentecostal
churches throughout the Midwest can claim their
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solid spiritual foundation to the teaching of Carl Trittin. He was
one of those who came to Rosa’s aid in telling the story of
Pentecost and baptism.
************
A fellow named Fredric Welk, a road building contractor, had been invited to
attend house meetings at the Oelke’s home. Although he apparently did not
become a believer, he found enough interest in what he heard that he talked
about it with his friends and suggested that they visit one of these meetings
themselves.
It happened that he was in charge of new road
construction between the towns of Berlin and
Green Lake. Sometime during this project, his
crew found themselves working on the road in
front of the Fred and Pauline Lentz farm.
Perhaps on a crew break, or whatever, Fred
Lentz walked out to visit and learn about the
road progress. What he learned was about
Pentecost!
Fred Welk was telling his crew about attending
Fred and Pauline Lentz
these house meetings at the Oelke’s home and
he included Fred Lentz in the conversation.
He ended up telling Fred how to find the Oelke home and recommended he
take his wife and investigate what was happening there.
Fred did him one better, he took his wife and two daughters to attend one of
these meetings and, for the Lentz family, it was the start of a new era!
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The Lentz family found more than interest. They found their soul salvation!
All four were baptized in the creek behind the Oelke home. The two daughters,
Alice and Esther were quite musical both playing the piano and singing.
These two ladies would be contributing special music at conferences and
revival services for years to come even after they married.
Eventually, Alice married Benjamin Urshan, then the pastor at Midway
Tabernacle of St Paul, Minnesota where they worked together there and at
other churches until his death. Esther married Wendell Haskins and both were
active in the churches at Auroraville, Oshkosh, and Fond du Lac, assisting
with the music and service all their lives.
As for Fred, his enthusiasm for Pentecost was contagious! He was a
gregarious fellow to begin with and somewhere in his conversations with about
anybody, he would slip in the question of whether or not they had heard about
Pentecost. He was more than happy to report to all his new found Pentecostal
experience and ended up bringing folks into the church at a remarkable rate
His first convert was a young man who worked as a farm hand on the Lentz
farm. Fred invited Billy Page to join the family at a house meeting at the
Oelke’s. Much to everyone’s delight and surprise, Billy accepted the Lord
wholeheartedly and became himself a witness to his friends and family. He
would later travel with evangelistic programs the church sponsored in other
communities giving his testimony and praying with new converts. One such
service was with Howard Harrington during the founding of the Medford
church. More is told of this here later and in more detail as told by Samuel
Hardt in the Samuel and Sadie Harrington Hardt book.
************
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Learning about Pentecost
An outdoor service and Bible Study conducted in the Green Lake, WI
area in the early 1920’s probably lead by the Carl's, Trittin or Ebert!
A carpenter from Berlin came to the Lentz home to
build kitchen cabinets. Fred began to witness to
Charley Dunham about Pentecost and the meetings
going on at Green Lake. Again Fred’s salesmanship
prevailed and carpenter Dunham and his school
teacher wife, Emily, were off to Green Lake to learn
more about Pentecost.
They were converted and also baptized in the creek
behind the Oelke’s home. Both became witnesses
for our Lord. Teacher Emily was soon conducting
Sunday school for the new congregation’s children,
a role she held to the day she died. Charles would
later help build the new Auroraville church and, for
The Dunham’s
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years to come, was available to help other emerging Pentecost churches build
pulpits, benches, or any other carpentry project that was needed. Charley, as
he preferred to be called, was not a preacher or teacher. He had the gift of
Helping! Many folks in the area churches were blessed by knowing this
couple.
The Dunham’s were responsible for bringing a neighbor, the John and Ida
Jordan family, into the church. Ida was the sister of Fred Lentz and had heard
him speak about his Pentecostal experience, but who listens to brothers? It
was when she found her neighbor friends were now part of this as well that
she decided to look at this seriously. She did and soon became another
convert to the faith. She opened her home to house meetings and shared the
story with more Berlin friends and neighbors. John passed away shortly
thereafter and later Ida married Fred Schmidt. They served the Lord the rest
of their lives, and now their extended families continue to serve our Lord to this
day as leaders in churches around the country.
Of the many others the Lentz family brought into the church, one more story is
worth note. Fred had met a Joseph Elstad who was a linotype operator for the
Berlin newspaper. Fred challenged Joseph with the Gospel story. The Elstad
family attended the services and they soon became full members of the
Pentecost congregation. What is the noteworthy part of this story is that
Joseph became an articulate spokesman for the faith and only a few years
after his conversion, he became the pastor of the Church at Auroraville (See
photo at end of this story)!
Fred and Pauline Lentz spent a lifetime spreading the message of Pentecost,
witnesses all their lives! Thinking back to that chance conversation with the
road contractor, when he first heard about Pentecost, Fred always said it had
to have been divine intervention!
***************
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It would be nice to know the other stories of how the growing number of
Pentecostals learned about it and came into the faith. We have only told the
story of a single thread of the development because that is the only one we
know today. Others may be just as dramatic. Unfortunately they are lost to us
at this writing. Clearly Rosa Oelke’s initial witnessing had produced much fruit.
All good things seem to come to an end and the Oelke family tenure in Green
Lake was to end as well. Building demand in the Green Lake area was
subsiding. In turn, Carl Ebert’s decision to move to Eau Claire had been wise
as building there was responding to the growing auto industry. Carl prevailed
on Edward to come join him in this building effort. This would mean a big
change for Rosa and Edward. They would be leaving their home and friends
of many years and Rosa’s work with the growing church. However, after much
prayer and travail, they decided this was a step they must take. They began to
plan for the move. First they must tell the folks in the growing congregation.
One can imagine how these folks would feel about losing their spiritual leader!
Perhaps one step forward towards carrying on without Rosa’s leadership
began when the converts began to hold church services in their homes.
Rosa’s home had been the meeting place for quite sometime. Now the group
was moving outward to accommodate the interest of folks in these outlying
areas and to ease the travel a bit. These “House Meetings” apparently worked
for awhile, but it was clear that it would be much better if they had a fixed
place to worship!
The group set about to resolve this need and, as stated earlier, found that the
Village of Auroraville would be a good central location. With a location
determined they set about to find a first meeting house and settled on what
may have been a small country general store at one time, but now vacant.
This left them with one task and that was to find a leader!
**************
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A House Meeting at the Lentz home with the Sass Family
Ida Jordan with son in center; Lydia and William Rayback at right
th
Lydia Sass and daughter LaVerne, 4 from left; Reinhold center top.
***********
First Pastor
A young couple in Milwaukee met while attending church services there.
They were members of the Church of God. Reinhold Sass and Lydia Minikel
choose to marry. For a honeymoon, they decided to take a trip to Indianapolis,
Indiana and as part of this trip to visit the church of G. T. Haywood who had a
large congregation there and was known for his writings of many popular
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hymns both then and now. Both Lydia and Reinhold were of German heritage
and both immigrants.
At the Haywood church they were challenged as to their decision on baptism.
Reinhold was able to report that he was baptized, and baptized in the Name of
Jesus! It appears that he had been introduced to Pentecost in Michigan where
he had been living before moving to Milwaukee.
This was apparently news to Lydia, but to Reinhold’s delight Lydia did not
object and instead told him this was also something she wished to pursue.
And she did. She was baptized at the Haywood church as part of her
honeymoon trip! It was February in the year 1920.
Reinhold and Lydia were informed that there was another person from
Wisconsin in attendance at the church. They were introduced to Carl Trittin,
the Bible teacher introduced earlier. This meeting began a lifetime relation
between the two families.
Carl began
tutoring the young couple on the scriptures,
developing in them a strong interest in
learning God’s word to its fullness. He was
successful in this as over the years Reinhold
and Lydia Sass were known for their
knowledge of the Bible and their ability to
teach others, particularly the message of
Pentecost and baptism!
They returned to Milwaukee and their jobs
and were disappointed to find no Apostolic
Pentecost church in the area, something that
over the years they would correct!
As their faith and understanding of the Bible
grew, so did their zeal and determination to
witness. At first, Reinhold believed his calling
would be to become a missionary to his
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Reinhold and Lydia Sass
people back in Russia. He was a “GR,” a German Russian, that is, a member
of the colonies of Germans living in Russia. He wished to return to these
enclaves where the Germans lived and tell them about Pentecost!
They set about attempting to collect funds to make this journey. Months into
this project their auto and belongings were stolen. They were now broke!
Most folks would give up after such a setback. Lydia and Reinhold did not.
Their determination to serve the Lord did not waver.
The missionary ambition would not be realized. In addition to the financial
setback, Russia was in political turmoil and, even worse, a famine. Foreigners
would not be allowed entry into the country.
All this time the Sass and Trittin relation was growing, and Carl suggested that
Reinhold and Lydia focus on conducting services right there in Milwaukee,
using their growing Bible skills to teach about Pentecost. He would help as he
could. They did, and this is how Reinhold and Lydia Sass started out together
working for our Lord!
This brings us back to Auroraville and ahead to the year 1923/24. Carl Trittin
was aware of the interest and need of a pastor for the Auroraville
congregation. There were few candidates, however!
The whole country was suffering financial difficulties. Some of the worst hit
were farm communities. Farmers were selling their milk at sometimes below
cost and this was their principal income. The Auroraville congregation had
little to offer financially to attract a pastor. They did have a church building, a
spirit filled congregation, and an active revival in place to offer.
The little meeting house that was first acquired was not large enough for the
growing congregation nor suited for services. Just in time, a large building, a
former cheese factory, became available and located almost in the middle of
the village. With the carpenter skills available within the group, they set about
forming a sanctuary on the plant floor. After the remodeling, folks reported
that it was quite suitable for church services. An added benefit was that there
The Church at Auroraville
- 26 -
was suitable living space on the upper level that again, with a bit of labor and
polish, became a parsonage. Now the congregation had a church and a
parsonage to offer some interested pastor. The locals referred to this as “The
Cheese Factory Church!” Never mind, it was to see a great revival with many
of those described at the start of this story as being “dunked” in the Millpond,
those who found their salvation at its altar!
Reinhold Sass and Carl Trittin continued their friendship and studying God’s
word together. It appears that one day Reinhold told Carl that he and Lydia
would be willing to move to a city where he could understudy with the pastor
there and learn to be a pastor. There were at that time no Bible Colleges that
were yet developed that could offer one such training.
Carl thought about this, prayed about this, and talked with the folks at
Auroraville. They accepted the idea. He then returned to Reinhold and Lydia
and explained his plan. “Reinhold, you and family shall proceed to Auroraville
and become the pastor there...and I shall be your mentor!” They had heard
that promise before, and fortunately, Carl had been true to his promise.
And that is how, in early 1924, Reinhold and Lydia Sass with their four year
old daughter LaVerne, arrived in Auroraville, Wisconsin to become the first
official pastor of the Church at Auroraville! The three members of the Sass
family also brought the population of Auroraville back to a solid One-Hundred
souls*!
***************
* In the late 1890’s,Auroraville had a thriving cranberry industry and the population rose
to its maximum of about 300 souls. When this industry failed, the population quickly
dropped then rose and settled to about 100 thereafter.
The Church at Auroraville
- 27 -
The “Cheese Factory” Church, the first church building of the Church at
Auroraville. Pastor Reinhold Sass is standing at the entrance. Signs
state this is the Pentecostal Assembly, and a Convention will be held
that October, year 1924.
***********
The Church at Auroraville
- 28 -
An only picture found of a group of the congregation at the Old Church
Circa 1924/5. Ida Jordan 1st left, Fred Lentz in hat, 5th from the right, Billy
Page, 2nd from right are only certain identifies.
The church continued its growth under Pastor Sass’ leadership. The first of
many “Auroraville” conventions was held and the knowledge of the church was
spreading far and wide. All was growing favorably except the economy.
Then a tragedy! Fortunately while the Sass family was on a trip home to
Milwaukee, the church building burned to the ground. The Sass family lost
their belongings and the congregation lost their church!
It was a setback for all. With no clear financial solution for the Sass family,
they decided to return to Milwaukee where a job awaited Reinhold and they
The Church at Auroraville
- 29 -
could recover their losses. It would take the Sass family awhile to recuperate.
Once they did, they were ready for another pastoral challenge. This took them
to Antigo, Wisconsin where they accepted an offer to start a church there.
They did, and a year or so later after this church was on its feet, they returned
to Milwaukee. Reinhold now had in his mind the skills he felt important to
open a church before family and friends in Milwaukee. They set about to open
the first Pentecostal church in Milwaukee. It is still in place today, a witness for
Pentecost in that city!
In the mean time, back in Auroraville, while the Sass family was recovering
so to speak, the congregation received a most interesting proposal! Would
they like to build a church on the property where the old church had stood?
Well, they sure would, but this was easier said than done! All they needed
was money, but who had that?
One can talk about courage, but that is what the Auroraville congregation had.
They had the courage and faith to put themselves in debt to build a church.
Folks with barely enough income to support their own homes and family
bravely signed the mortgage loan which enabled them to purchase the lot and
initiate the building of the new church building.
It would be wonderful to know the planning steps that followed. How the
design and layout of the building were determined*. One person that
participated in this and the building was our Carl Ebert of Eau Claire, who
came to aid the Auroraville church folks once more! He brought his skills and
those of others he knew who could aid in the construction to Auroraville and
soon a structure was forming. Carl not only coordinated the building, but when
the time came to ask who will come to be our new pastor, he raised his hand.
Carl Ebert and wife Martha with their three year old daughter, Eunice, came
to Auroraville where he served as its pastor the first year of the new church’s
existence. Things were off to a great start. Folks were settling in comfortably
in their new church and worship with the new pastor and family as winter
approached. No one was prepared for the worst winter to hit the mid-west in
decades. Storms left roads impassable. The cold kept travel to a minimum.
The Church at Auroraville
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The old automobiles of the day provided little comfort against the outside cold,
providing they would even start at all. It was more than a challenge to get to
church, to say the least!
It was devastating both for worship and the financial situation for the Church of
Auroraville. The congregation just could not get to church. These folks, mostly
farmers, were in a survival mode struggling against the weather to protect their
dairy herds. With mortgage payments the priority, the Ebert family were left
little income to carry on with their own expenses. Add that to the discomfort of
the parsonage living conditions which was being finished as they lived there.
They reluctantly decided to return to Eau Claire and regain their finances.
The Church at Auroraville was without a pastor once more!
**************
* The new church building included a baptistery which allowed year-round
baptisms to be conducted. No more “dunking’ in the Millpond, or waiting until
Spring to do so, was necessary!
The Church at Auroraville
- 31 -
Building the New Church
Off the ground: early 1925
Almost Finished
Late summer 1927 and almost
ready to hold services. The
exact finish and dedication
dates have not been
discovered to date.
The Church at Auroraville
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The Millpond
(The church is directly across the pond, far right, from this spot)
Hallow Ground!
Willow Creek below the Dam. The baptism site!
The Church at Auroraville
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The Old Church Burning!
Winter on the Millpond. The new church in the center!
The Church at Auroraville
- 34 -
Extending the message of Pentecost in Wisconsin
Folks from the Auroraville congregation were soon involved in teams that
would witness in other cities such as Antigo, Clintonville, Medford where
churches eventually formed. The following picture shows folks familiar to the
Auroraville church including the two Lentz daughters from that congregation.
One other group who participated in such evangelistic programs were the
Harringtons who are introduced in the next section.
The couple at left: Reinhold and Lydia Sass
The Ebert's: Child Eunice, Martha and Carl
The Lentz sisters: Esther on rail, Alice standing
Taken in Antigo, a revival service at the start of this church about 1928/9
************
The Church at Auroraville
- 35 -
The Harringtons
In 1924 in the old church, a young girl just ten
years old came to the altar and gave her heart to
the Lord. Her mother reminded her just what that
decision meant as they hiked back home across the
frozen Millpond to their farm and home. Thinking of
her mother’s words, Sadie Alice Harrington
committed in her heart to serve the Lord the rest of
her life. This she did in many roles in the church,
evangelism, and finally as an ordained minister of
the faith, all for a total of sixty-eight more years!
Within months the Harrington family had come into
the faith. Over time it was recognized that Howard
had a wonderful gift for explaining to family and
Sadie age 15
friends the scriptures of Pentecost. Folks would
stop at the Harrington farm to visit and learn more
from them about their new faith. They
loved to hear them sing the hymns of
Pentecost.
There were mini church
services being held in the living room most
any time of the day. Also, Howard felt lead
to pray with those who arrived with an
illness and ask God for healing. These
people left healed. People began to seek
his prayers. He was quick to remind them
that it was not his prayer that healed them,
but God’s healing touch!
It did not take long before folks in other
locations were asking for the Harrington’s to
come and hold services with them. Soon
Howard Harrington
The Church at Auroraville
- 36 -
the would-be farmer was spending more time preaching and praying for the
sick than he had time to farm. This was the start of the Harrington evangelist
team and a story unto itself.4 Young Sadie was the musical highlight of this
team. She was only fourteen when this group started, but already could bring
people to their feet in song praising the Lord! The team continued with one
revival service after the other, reaching River Falls, Wisconsin some four years
later for a two week revival service. The revival lasted almost two years, and
when the family returned to Auroraville, Howard remained to become that
church’s first full- time pastor. And Sadie would only a few years later marry
the evangelist, Samuel Hardt. Samuel and Sadie were married in the new
Auroraville church and would return later to lead this congregation
It was mother Annabelle Harrington who took on the role of the financial
negotiations for the church, keeping the mortgage payments one step ahead
of losing all to the bank owners, for times were still difficult for everyone as the
depression continued in our nation! In the absence of a pastor, it was Mother
Harrington, as she was called, who would be asked to lead the service.
Again, the Harrington’s represent another Auroraville church family whose
works blessed so many Pentecostals near and far bringing many new souls
into the faith. They may not have ever heard this message had it not been for
that single first witness back in Green Lake just four years before!
*************
The Church at Auroraville
- 37 -
The Church at Medford
Medford, Wisconsin is located about one-hundred and fifty miles north and
west of Auroraville, and back in 1920’s on mostly unpaved roads and in the
automobiles of the day, it would have been a very long, long journey. Yet
again, the birth of Pentecost in that city may not ever have occurred there, had
not it been for the Church at Auroraville, and its arrival there is certainly much
appreciated by this Hardt family as you will soon understand!
Here is how this church came about. George Harris was a member of the
Pentecostal Church at Eau Claire and a friend of Carl Ebert. George had a
wonderful conversion.
He began to witness this experience and the
Pentecostal message to his friends and family. Apparently he had a gift for
speaking, for he was encouraged to assist in the services, telling his testimony
and encouraging others!
He would learn through the Ebert’s about Rosa Oelke’s work in Green Lake. It
appears that he was one of the early supporters of Rosa and traveled with
Carl Ebert to participate in the meetings and Bible studies held in her home.
These trips to Green Lake and then Auroraville continued over the next
several years.
To shorten the trip between Eau Claire and Auroraville, George would stop
and overnight with one of his two nieces who lived in Medford. Of course he
had to explain his trip(s) to Auroraville, and this gave him an opportunity to
introduce them to Pentecost!
I said that George was a wonderful witness, for it was not long before his two
nieces living in Medford accepted the Lord and were baptized becoming the
first two converts to Pentecost in that city! George Harris continued his trips
and encouraged folks from Auroraville to come and assist him in getting the
message of Pentecost established in Medford, and they did! A wonderful
relationship of fellowship developed between these two congregations.
Several new converts in the Medford church, not wanting to wait for spring for
The Church at Auroraville
- 38 -
the ice to melt in the river to be baptized, would travel all the way to Auroraville
to be baptized in the newly installed baptistery within the Auroraville church.
The house meetings that followed grew to a need for a better meeting house.
Around the end of the year 1927, this group found an available building
suitable to hold services. George Harris gave up his employment in Eau Claire
and became the spiritual leader of this group.
This building, the first Pentecostal Church in Medford was located at the start
of the street that the Hardt family lived on! Members of the Hardt family began
to stop by to observe just what was going on in the old store building!
Folks from the Medford Church congregation, 1928
rd
Samuel Hardt, 3 fr Right
In August of 1928, Howard Harrington of Auroraville, who by now was moving
into the role of a fulltime evangelist, was invited by the Medford congregation
to come and conduct special services. He brought his sister Sadie and Billy
The Church at Auroraville
- 39 -
Page with him to participate in the services. On the Sunday service of August
28th, 1928 a young fourteen year old named Samuel Hardt came forward to
be baptized in the name of Jesus! He received the Holy Spirit that same day!
Shortly thereafter, the entire Hardt family came into this church, the
Pentecostal Church of Medford. Samuel began his ministry shortly after his
fifteenth birthday and would be known as the “Boy Preacher” throughout the
Mid-West!
It was the first meeting of Sadie Harrington and Samuel Hardt that August
Sunday. About seven years later, they would become my parents to be! That
romance and marriage did take awhile to develop. However, thanks to the
existence of the Church at Auroraville, directly and in-directly, both had the
opportunity to learn about Pentecost and find their Soul Salvation in the early
days of their youth! It is unlikely that they would have ever met, had they not
come into Pentecost and
decided to become witnesses for our Lord.
**********
The Church at Auroraville
- 40 -
3
CONFERENCES/FELLOWSHIP
The first Wisconsin Apostolic Pentecostal Ministers Conference was held in
the old church at Auroraville in 1925. Its success made it a tradition at the
Church at Auroraville. Ministers found solutions to church matters from the
counsel of elder pastors and discussion sessions. The saints strengthened
their knowledge of the scriptures in the studies held and all found spiritual
growth and refreshing in the uplifting services.
Going to Auroraville for the annual conference, to a Pentecostal, was a special
time for fellowship, updating, and praising the Lord! If they could afford to go,
they would be there! And, this included folks not just from Wisconsin, but folks
who had heard about this event and could make the journey from near and far!
Folks as far away as from Indianapolis and St Louis are known to have been
at these events.
Not only did pastors and evangelists look forward to these events, but church
folks and their children did as well. Folks brought house trailers or camped in
tents. The Auroraville church folks had more house guests than their house
would hold. It was conference time and folks just made do the best they
could. There was room for one more!
The kids brought their fishing poles and to this day can tell stories of fishing off
the Millpond bridge, particularly of the big one that got away! And of course,
there were important friendships made as well!
It was certainly a spiritual time, a friendship time, and certainly an important
time for the saints of the Pentecostal folks in this part of the world!
*************
The Church at Auroraville
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An undated photo perhaps about 1940 of the pastors and evangelists
attending the year’s Ministers Conference.
Those in the above photo that have been identified are listed below. Numbered positions with stars are
yet to be identified; and a (?) means not certain of name or location:
Front Row:
1. ***********
2. George Bye, St Paul
3.Wallace McKeehan,
ABI
4. Clyde Daley, Platteville
5. Carl Trittin, Appleton
6. Gottlieb Hardt,
Medford
7. (?) Marsh, Evangelist
8 Harry Rubin,
Milwaukee
Middle Row:
The Church at Auroraville
1. Henry Gereau, Withee
2. Jim Peterson,
Clintonville
3.************
4. (?,?), Missionary
guest at conference(?)
5. Reinhold Sass,
Milwaukee
6. (?) Sperry (?)
7.Fred Scott ABI
Back Row:
1.*************
2. Benjamin Urshan,
Duluth
- 42 -
3. Howard Harrington,
Evangelist
4.************
5. Joseph Brooks, Beloit
6.***********
7. S. G. Norris, St Paul
8. Milton Buller ABI
9. George Dainty,
Spencer Iowa
10. . M.S. Wasko, River
Fallsl
11 .Richard Davis,
Auroraville
Village of Auroraville in 1941 as it looked about the time
of the Conference described above. Church can be seen
as white building across bridge in center of picture.
The Church at Auroraville
43
Sad Note
Giving One’s All
During a particularly difficult financial time for the Church at Auroraville, the
Joseph Sarges* family arrived to become pastor. To add to the misery of the
times, it turned out that the winter of 1932/33 would be another extremely cold
season which would take its toll again with a sever influenza epidemic. The
Sarges family were just one of many in the Auroraville area that were so
infected. The seemly indestructible Pastor Sarges appears to have suffered
the most in his family. When the rest of the family recovered, his illness
lingered.
“He would get better, than worse! Then one day he was no longer with us!*
He perished there the summer of 1933. He had just entered into his 37th year!
Esther Haskins tells that it was Sister
Sarges’ wish to return to her family and, on
a dreary day, several saints from the
church gathered at the Berlin train station
to say farewell to the remaining Sarges
family who boarded the train for some far
off distant state, leaving behind their
husband and father in his grave at the
Auroraville cemetery. The church was
able to find funds to purchase a grave and
buy train tickets for the family. There was
no money left to buy a grave stone.
Pastor Joseph Sarges rested in peace in
this unmarked grave until Lee Harrington,
the same Lee who told the story of the
folks being baptized at the start of this
The Sarges Family
The Church at Auroraville
44
story, heard about this. He had returned from the military and, somehow,
learned about the unmarked grave. He located the grave and began to place
flowers upon it every spring. Years later he related this story to his son James
about the poor Pentecostal preacher who was resting in the Auroraville
cemetery in an unmarked grave. Again sometime later, James who is Rev.
James Harrington, a Methodist Minister, received a cash gift from folks at a
nursing home where he would stop to visit and conduct services for them.
This was a donation of his time and these folks knew that yet they wanted to
do something for him.
Thinking of what he could do with this money and still please these folks he
decided he and they were going to buy a grave stone, and they did! Today
Joseph’s grave is marked as are all others there.
His headstone reports:
We should add:
“A servant of our Lord
who gave his life teaching
His Word!”
*Note: Another spellings “Sargis”: Actual cause of death not available.
The Church at Auroraville
45
The Lighthouse for Pentecost
Earlier we said that the church at Auroraville had been a point of salvation for
those near and far! The church became a beacon of hope, a Lighthouse to
those seeking God’s will even “far” away by the standards of that day. Here is
one last story that will emphasize this very fact, a most appropriate one to end
this report.
Scene I: A young lady, a child of a large farm
family in a village far north of Auroraville had
grown to enjoy reading the Bible. Over time, her
enjoyment became scholarly, and she began to
study and compare scriptures as much as just
reading the Bible for the pleasure she received.
This was Marie Brant of Polar, Wisconsin. Life
brought her to the village of Embarrass, Wisconsin
when she responded to a request of her older
sister to come live with her family for awhile and
assist her with her growing family. She never left
the Embarrass area for she caught the eye of a
Marie Brant Peterson
local caviler lad who was smitten by the sight of
Marie. The attraction was apparently mutual, for the
two were married in time and started a family. They were farmers, as their
families before!
Jim was apparently not disturbed by Marie and her pursuit of the Bible where
for the next several years she continued alone with her study. Whenever she
had a chance, she would report to family and friends that the church they
attended seemed quite different than the church of the “early Christians.” Why
was this? They could not answer. Yet, they understood that Marie would not
be happy until she found “that” church that continued the faith as found in the
Bible on the “Day of Pentecost!”
The Church at Auroraville
46
One day, her father-in-law attending to business overheard some fellows
talking about this church way down in Auroraville where to become a member,
one had to get baptized, dunked in the creek. He did not pay much more
attention to this conversation until he heard someone say that this is what the
early Christians apparently did. The folks down there talked in “other tongues”
just as they did in the early church as well.
He paused and wondered if this might be what his daughter-in-law was talking
about, “early Christians, the early Church?” He asked where this church might
be.
As soon as he could, he journeyed down to visit Jim and Marie, and told his
daughter-in-law the story he had heard about this special church at
Auroraville. “Do you suppose this is the kind of church you have been looking
for,” he asked? If so, he promised to take her to Auroraville (not only because
he was a good father-in-law, but I am sure he wanted to see for himself if what
he heard was true!).
She replied that this was certainly something she would like to know more
about. So, it was settled. They would travel to find the Church at Auroraville!
Husband Jim had perked up his ears on this story. He wasn’t about to get
involved in something like this, but he would certainly like to see if what his
father had told them about this group was true. So the fellow that was the life
and probably the ringleader of all the local parties, and not a bit interested in
religion or church, would go along on this trip and see for himself. So they
made their plans. Marie’s father-in-law would drive the Peterson’s and their
two children to Auroraville in his not too new, but dependable, Studebaker!
Not knowing anything more than that this church was in Auroraville, they set
off to negotiate 60 or 70 miles of dirt and gravel roads at thirty or forty miles an
hour at best to find this church “that believed what the Bible taught!” If you can
picture life, and particularly travel in the late 1920’s, you will understand this
challenge.
The Church at Auroraville
47
They found “it” and found a stirring service in progress. They stayed late into
the night listening to the sermons and folks praising and seeking the Lord!
Later on the way home in the dark of the night, the father-in-law asked, “Is this
what you have been looking for?” Her reply was swift. “Yes! And, I want to go
back and be baptized as soon as we can!” And, they did, returning many,
many times thereafter! Son John Peterson, who was probably four years old
at the time, tells of these trips, that sometimes the services were so intense
that his folks forgot about the time and it would be one or two o’clock in the
morning before it dawned on them that they had a long drive yet awaiting them
to get home to tend to the livestock! This was resolved by sleeping awhile on
the hard floor of the sanctuary before piling into the old Studebaker and
heading home in time to do the “chores” (milking and feeding the cows) at
sunrise!
Poor Jim! It would have been most interesting to have been with this group on
their first visit to the Church at Auroraville. Marie rejoicing at the discovery of
something she had been seeking for most of her life. Jim not believing what he
was seeing! To his credit, skeptical as he may have been, he apparently
never said a discouraging word to Marie. Then again to his credit, as the trips
continued, his doubts waned and he began to acknowledge there was
something to this Pentecost stuff!
Marie’s baptism was remarkable. The family, particularly Jim, noted a
dramatic change in her. She continually rejoiced in her new found experience.
She was now one like those in days gone by, those in the Upper Room on the
Day of Pentecost! Jim felt left out and wished for that same experience. The
story is, that when not doing his farming chores, he began to pray and seek
his own baptism in the silo room of his barn. He was determined and
relentless, and God rewarded him with a most wonderful baptism! Folks were
amazed at the changes in these two neighbors and friends. The Peterson’s
were more than willing to tell them how it had come about!
Scene II: And, the end of the beginning of this story. The story to be told is
how both Jim and Marie became remarkable witnesses for our Lord. The light
The Church at Auroraville
48
they received at the altar of the Church at Auroraville was soon carried by the
Peterson’s to light the way for many for miles around the little village of
Embarrass!
They started with their own families and friends holding services in their home.
They were able to get some outside help to come and hold Bible studies and
services. Again, names like Trittin, Ebert and Sass would be listed as those
that came to aid in the starting of another Apostolic Pentecostal church. This
one in the town of Clintonville, Wisconsin where Jim Peterson himself became
the spiritual leader of the growing congregation!
Son John tells the story of how this happened: Pastor
Sass, who had again come to the aid of an emerging
congregation, informed Jim Peterson and the congregation
that he was not able to travel to Clintonville any longer to
conduct their church services. Jim said, “So what shall we
do for a pastor?” Reinhold’s response to Jim was, “You
become the pastor!” Jim said, “I’m a farmer! How would I
do that?” “I guess by praying a lot” was his response.
Apparently, this is exactly what farmer Jim Peterson did,
for he became a great spiritual leader throughout the area
and fine pastor at the Clintonville church they started!
The Clintonville church also has a history of developing and sending young
pastors on their way to other congregations or the missionary fields. The
Pentecostal church at Clintonville is one of the vibrant churches in that area of
the State of Wisconsin today and the congregation holds the Peterson family
in great regards for opening a window for them to see the Light of Pentecost!
The Church at Auroraville
49
Here they are years later
Pastor Jim and wife Marie
Beside the church they started at
Clintonville, Wisconsin
And, of course, we ask once more, what would the Jim and Marie
story be without the Church at Auroraville; and way back, without that
one witness?. It is clear, much is owned to this lady: Our Sister in
Christ, Rosa Oelke!
***************
The Church at Auroraville
50
Moving On
A church of Our Thankful Memories!
Despite the economy, the congregation was able to meet the mortgage
payments and eventually and miraculously paid the dept in full! Keeping a
pastor was a different story. There wasn’t enough money to sustain the
mortgage and a decent salary for one. Fortunately, there were those willing to
come and pastor for a few months even a year sustaining themselves on what
the congregation could provide (garden vegetables, eggs, and a few dollars a
week) to be part of the Auroraville story. The stories of the contributions to the
Auroraville story of those pastors and their families, some with names of
Mulford, Sarges, Elstad, Davis, Shertlief, and Hardt may never be told, at least
in this writing.
Samuel and Sadie Hardt were the pastors for a year, starting in late 1937. As
stated earlier, they were married in this church by W. A. Mulford who was
pastor of the Church at Auroraville at that time, back on the 5th of May, 1934.
Samuel reports that the financial offer for this post was for lights and heat at
the parsonage and three dollars per week! With this, they needed to make
payments on their automobile and buy food for themselves and their three
year old child. Thanks to the food offerings from the congregation which
supplemented this, they made it through the year! This still was better than
some of the offerings Samuel received as an evangelist. The Racine church,
which he assisted in starting, reports in their church history that one week
Samuel’s offering was thirty-five cents! He stated that he seldom received
enough offering after a week of special meetings to buy a train or bus ticket to
the next location so he had to hitchhike to that place. Financials did not
dissuade these two back then nor to date as their aggregate years of service
for our Lord totals more than one-hundred-fifty years!
The Church at Auroraville
51
Samuel and Sadie Hardt
Pastors at the Church of Auroraville, 1938
When both were 24 years old.
There is a great “story” told of how these pastors
supplemented the food on their table: Our Lord made his
disciples fishers of Men and He made the Auroraville
pastors also fishers of fish, for they seemed to be the lucky
fishermen on the Millpond! Thanks to this, their families
were the benefactors of some great fish dinners! (This may
be another fish story, but a good one!)
One more name from the list of pastors who earned “stripes” in their tenure at
Auroraville is Davis. This was Richard Davis, who is well known to us in
Wisconsin, for he served in many roles and churches in this State over the
years. The Church at Auroraville turns out to be his very first pulpit. He tells
the story of how he had come from Ohio to attend the Apostolic Bible Institute
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in St Paul in the late 1930s. His brother-in-law, a pastor, came for a visit and
was informed that there was a church opening for a pastor in Auroraville, and
he would be considered, if he would chose to move to Wisconsin. He rejected
the offer, but Richard said, “how about me?” He was surprised when the
response was that if he thought he was ready to be a pastor, he could have
the challenge. He left for Auroraville and became the pastor. He was still
eighteen years old (See Group Photo above of Conference attendees)!
A sad note for him, in his own words, was that only a few years later as the
Wisconsin UPC District Superintendent, it was he, Richard Davis, who had to
sign the papers finalizing the sale of the Church at Auroraville property
(probably about late 1946).
**************
The church, being a regional assembly, always had to deal with a
congregation that had to travel many miles on unpaved roads and deal with
the weather to get to church services. Despite this and the economy, the
congregation remained determined to serve the Lord, keeping the church
open for all to worship. With this determination, the church moved into the
1940’s only to be faced by a national challenge, World War II.
The war years changed the face of America particularly small farm
communities like Auroraville. Many young folks were called away from the
farms and into the military. Others left home to move to the cities to do much
needed labor in the defense industries. Those back home everywhere faced
rationing especially gasoline. All of this affected the composition and
complexion of the congregation of the Church at Auroraville. Still during the
war years, the church was able to conduct the annual events like the
Conference, and somehow folks managed to attend.
There were now Pentecostal churches that had blossomed in surrounding
communities such as Oshkosh, Clintonville, Stevens Point, and Appleton. For
many in the Auroraville congregation, these new churches were almost as
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close to attend as their home church, and perhaps with better roads to travel
on to get there!
The war finally over, it was discovered that things would not return to normal in
the villages of America, and it certainly did not at Auroraville or the Church at
Auroraville. Young folks did not return home to farm. Farms themselves
changed due to new technologies and procedures. The small farm homestead
was no longer productive. Many chose to sell to a neighbor who decided to
stay and attempt to grow his farm to meet the new challenges!
By the late 1940’s, it was clear to the Wisconsin Pentecostal District
leadership that the Auroraville congregation would no longer be able to
support a pastor and financially manage church affairs.
Since the
congregation remaining did have other Pentecostal church options, the
appropriate decision was to divest the property and church building.
The Church at Auroraville building is no longer a church. The Church at
Auroraville as a congregation exists spread out across this State, our country,
and even around the world. Though many of the original saints have long
gone on to meet their heavenly rewards, their children and grandchildren carry
on the work of our Lord as pastors, teachers, missionaries, and saints of
congregations, carrying on the same message of our faith heard by their
ancestors way back when Rosa Oelke and others gave so much to help folks
find their soul’s salvation at the altar of a church they built in Auroraville,
Wisconsin. Rosa and those folks are just a few of our pioneers of Pentecost.
Yet for the folks in East-Central Wisconsin, these are the ones who showed us
the way!
We are indebted to these folks! We thank them so much!
The Church at Auroraville!
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Back to Rosa
A last note about Rosa Oelke. Her move to Eau Claire did not dampen her
spirits or determination to serve the Lord or know His Word! She became a
mentor and inspiration in the Eau Claire church. These many years later her
granddaughter, a third generation Pentecostal whose children also follow in
this way, tells us:
"I remember visiting my Grandma Oelke in her old age at her small
apartment near downtown Eau Claire. She still loved talking about
scriptures and getting together with folks that could study with her for
her love of scholarly inquiry and debate of the Word continued! She
kept her Bible and references close by her rocking chair so she could
be ready for questions about her faith, the wonderful truth for which she
and her family contended. I am so grateful for the memory of her
pioneering spirit! She would be pleased to know that our generation has
not forgotten her efforts and are carrying on her good works!"
Mary (Oelke) Geissler
I wonder if she ever thought what her life may have been like had she not
been introduced to Pentecost. Those folks who found their faith because she
taught them about Pentecost, were those “dunked” in the Auroraville creek, or
they in anyway find their spiritual roots linked way back to those Bible studies
and meetings held in Rosa’s living room in Green Lake, Wisconsin can only
dread such a thought!
Rosa Ebert Oelke
1884 – 1972
Who I am sure, is waiting impatiently for her Lord’s return!
**************
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rd
An Auroraville Church gathering, late 1930’s: Pastor Elstad, 3 fr left then
nd
Pauline and Fred Lentz, then Ellen Elstad Emily and Charles Dunham, R 1&2
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Another Auroraville Gathering, early 1940s
st
1 Row: Carl Trittin, Gottlieb Hardt
nd
2 Row: The Smiths, Reinhold Sass, Evangelist Marsh, Lydia Hardt
rd
3 Row: Benjamin Urshan, Alice Urshan, Lydia Sass,
Harry Daley with Wife, Clyde Daley with Wife.
Joseph Elstad, just to the right of Harry Daley with Jim Peterson’s head to his right!
Marie Peterson’s head just to the left of Harry Daley.
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A Sunday service, early war years
Young Folks Already Gone!
nd
th
2 Left: Annabelle Harrington; 6 Left: Emily Dunham
From Right: Ida and Fred Schmidt; Esther and Wendell Haskins;
Fred and Pauline Lentz
Other folks not identified at this time.
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Esther Haskins (Age 96) and Jon
Selecting photos for this story
October, 2009
For comments and/or additional information about the Church at Auroraville contact:
Jon Hardt
509 Ridgeview Court
Green Bay, WI 54301
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End of the day on the Old Millpond! Time to pause and reflect;
to be thankful once more!
1Contributors to this document came from the following folks: Eunice Ebert Glenna, daughter of Carl
Ebert; LaVerne Sass Monte, daughter of Reinhold Sass; Lee Harrington; Samuel Hardt; John Peterson,
son of Jim Peterson; with pictures and commentary by Esther Lentz Haskins who was converted at the
house meetings at the home of Rosa Oelke and baptized in the creek behind their home along with her
entire family at her age of eleven. She is age 96 at this writing and still rejoicing in her baptism! Village
photos supplied by Donna Kirk, Auroraville.
2
It is unfortunate that there is no record of the number of converts to Pentecost associated with this
story. There were several large baptismal services in the Millpond. The one described by Lee Harrington
and the one he was himself baptized. Samuel Hardt recalls that in that session alone in the spring of
1925, the Harringtons reported they were baptized with more than thirty other converts.
3 More on this couple can be found in the book, “Spreading Pentecost from New York to Oregon,” the
Samuel and Sadie Harrington Hardt story (to be published in 2010).
4
Find the Harrington Evangelistic story in the book and more in, “Spreading Pentecost from New York
to Oregon” described above!
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(Last Page)
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