St. Michael Lutheran Church on Merrimac Road in Blacksburg is celebrating a milestone this month. The birthday cake might say 50 years, but the site itself dates back to the 1700s.
A monument marks the spot where the first Lutheran church west of the Alleghany Mountains was once located. St. Michael Lutheran Church in Blacksburg was built on the site in 1968.
In 1968, St. Michael was formed by the merger of New St. Peter Lutheran and St. Mark Lutheran churches. The decision was an easy one to determine where to build the new church. The congregation chose a spot off of Prices Fork Road that holds significant history for Lutherans.
The site had once been the home of the first Lutheran church west of the Alleghany Mountains. Previously, the church at the location had been known as St. Michael and St. Peter. It closed in 1885 and a historic cemetery remains at this location to this day with markers signifying individuals that braved the path for others to follow through the great frontier.
The land had been vacant until the merger. Since then, there has been three major additions including a classroom and daycare wing.
Marguerite Olinger, 91, is the oldest charter member and still lives in Prices Fork. Earlier this week, she remembered fondly her entire family growing up at the church. She taught Sunday school for over 20 years.
“On the day they broke ground for the church, it poured and poured down the rain, but we all broke out our umbrellas and stayed through it,” she said.
Olinger’s daughter, Terri, was the first person married in the new St. Michael building. Marguerute’s sister, 90-year-old Peggy Price, is also a charter member of the church.
St. Michael currently partners with over 200 local community groups to offer “Micah’s Initiative,” which includes food and clothing banks, and Micah’s Backpack.
The later supplies nutritional snacks to over 300 children in the Prices Fork area via Prices Fork elementary school. The backpack program has received national attention and has garnered several local, state and national grants.
Also, during the Christmas holidays, St. Michael provides gifts and necessities to individuals at the Pine Ridge Indian reservation helping with living expenses and other items.
On three consecutive Sunday’s, Sept. 9, 16 and 23, informal history lessons will be shared about the church and its early beginnings at 9 a.m. Refreshments are slated to be served.
A special worship service and open house is scheduled for Sunday at 9 a.m. and an open house for everyone from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. A concert by the Altman Family Singers is slated for the sanctuary.
On Sunday, Sept. 16, there will be worship and lunch with Virginia Synod Lutheran Bishop Humphrey with special singing by Pastors John Wertz, Linda Mitchell and Paul Hendrickson. An anniversary lunch will follow at 11 a.m., along with a program of pictures and memories
On Sunday, Sept. 23, the Clergy Mountain Band will perform shortly after a bulb planting and light lunch. Worship services are slated for 10 a.m.
