Wartburg Chapel 1904 to 2024
Abiding Presence on the Wartburg Campus
The Worshiping Community
The present Wartburg Chapel was dedicated in 1904. Its function has always been to provide a place of worship for the community living and working here on campus. In 1985, after the organization became exclusively an adult care community, United Lutheran Church, a fellowship previously created by the merging of three Lutheran churches in Mt. Vernon, was invited to make their home at Wartburg. At first, their ministry was distinct from the chaplaincy of the campus and chapel. With time, the Pastor of this ELCA Lutheran parish became the Director of Spiritual Care for Wartburg, and the congregation currently shares the financial remuneration of this position. Our current Pastor is Rev. Kimberli Lile, an ordained ELCA pastor and board-certified Chaplain.
When the leadership became a shared position, the congregation was faced with redefining its mission, so that it was campus oriented. Thus, the “Worship on Wheels” ministry came into being, and every Sunday morning, above freezing and without a monsoon, became an opportunity to not only worship but to serve one’s neighbor by volunteers wheeling nursing home residents and Rehab patients to worship. It was quite a sight, pre-COVID, to see 30 to 40 residents at worship in wheelchairs alongside United Lutheran Church members, friends, and volunteers.
When COVID infected our community and brought illness and death never seen in such concentration, everything changed, including the use of the Chapel. For the first time, the Chapel was shut to public worship beginning March 8, 2020. Yet, because it was connected via television cable to our nursing home and rehabilitation center, the ministry continued when visitation was prohibited by CDC and state guidelines. During that season of Lent, the Pastor joined with a retired minister who volunteered to play keyboard and provide morning devotions several days a week that could be viewed in resident rooms. Sunday morning devotions were also televised while the congregation met by phone on a conference line. The Chapel became a stage for musicians who previously had played in-house for residents. Town meetings for the nursing home were televised for those restricted to their rooms. This sanctuary served the community in many and various ways, and seeing this in play, we extended cable to the assisted living community of the Wartburg the following Easter season. When in-person worship returned to the Chapel, residents throughout campus began watching service on their televisions when weather prohibited travel to the Chapel. Each week, Sunday bulletins were published and distributed to all campus communities. The many challenges presented by COVID on campus expanded the use of the Chapel, and worship originating in the sanctuary became more widely accessed through television and accompanying print.
The Chapel Building
The architectural style of the Chapel, Basilica-Romanesque, was inspired by a church in Sienna, Italy, which the Rev. Gottlieb C. Berkemeier (Wartburg Director 1885-1921) admired. Schickel and Ditmars of New York City were hired to serve as the architectural firm for the project. This firm was popular with German American clients and was known for their houses of worship. At the time of the Chapel’s dedication there were four stained glass windows installed, and 8 more would be added later. The stained-glass windows were designed by Mayer studios in Munich and New York and crafted by the Henry Birkenstock Studio of Mount Vernon.
Seven years later the murals were added to the upper story of the Chapel. These 14 murals, reflecting the life and ministry of Martin Luther, are done in the fresco technique above the arches on either side of the Chapel, unique to Wartburg. The images were copied from originals in the Wartburg Castle in Germany by Dury and Sturm.
The original pipe organ, built by Eifert and Stoehy for Steinway in Astoria, New York, was installed when the Chapel was built. While an Allen electronic organ was installed in 1970 and used for many years, our current organist and cantor has the gift of keeping the sound of the original organ alive in the nave each Sunday.
In 1928 and 1975 the Chapel underwent major refurbishments. In 1985-87 a restoration of the Chapel included cleaning ceilings, windows, and walls; repainting of walls and ceilings; restoring and brightening murals; repairing stained glass; restoring the original tracker pipe organ and gold leafing of the gable cross; converting the former baptistery into a reposing room and columbarium; installing new ceiling lights, a new electronic carillon, a new entrance stairway and ramp, new carpets, a new altar frontal, and more. No restoration has taken place since this major undertaking.
United at Wartburg
Members and friends of United Lutheran Church at Wartburg consider themselves a “small but mighty fellowship,” and this is true. Having lived through the COVID effect on Wartburg, they keep the embers of faith and worship alive in Wartburg Chapel, as the campus transforms into a place where more independent seniors will abide and find a church home outside their apartment doors. The coming decade is full of gospel opportunity to worship in Christ’s name and love our neighbor, no matter their creed.