IMMANUEL CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

IMMANUEL CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST. The beginnings of the church trace back to the Evangelical Church of Dubuque begun in 1849 by Pastor Peter Fleury, a minister who preached in English, French, and German. The second pastor of the church accepted an invitation in 1862 to become the minister of Dubuque's FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH and most of the congregation of the Evangelical Church followed him. The remaining members founded the German Evangelical Church in 1863. The congregation was served by itinerant preachers for the next fourteen years.

In 1867 Rev. Jesse Guernsey, superintendent of Iowa Congregationalism, directed the construction of a white frame church on the hillside above the fire station at 18th Street and Central. This building would serve the congregation for twenty years and become known as the German Congregational Church.

The first permanent pastor inherited a congregation of five adults and two children, an unfinished building, and a debt of $1,200. Under the leadership of Rev. Ficke, the problems were gradually settled. Construction of the present church at 18th and Jackson STREETS was begun with the laying of the cornerstone on October 16, 1887. The original church was rented to other church groups for several years and then torn down in the 1890s, and a parsonage was constructed on the site. Ficke continued in his position until his death in 1911.

The years during WORLD WAR I were difficult for the German-speaking congregation when anti-German sentiment in the community was high. The first separate English services were held during the pastorate of Reverend Gustav B. Bauman (1921--1927).