Churches & Residences
The family photo collection of Harold Brauer included photos of some of the churches he served and some of the residences associated with those churches. However, the collection is incomplete.
First Residence in Julesburg
Rented from Mrs. Kelley. No indoor bathroom for first couple of years.
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Ogden, Utah
Below is a photo of this church building that sat on a corner. Barely visible in the rear at the left is the parsonage built while Rev. Brauer served this congregation.
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Symco, Wisconsin
The church is on the left. It had a high steeple. The parsonage is on the right. Below is a winter view of the church, parsonage and garage and a photo of the parsonage.
To the left (south) of the church was a parking lot and further south was a one-room school. It was used for meetings and some Sunday school. Further south (just barely seen) is the woodshed where fire wood for heating the buildings was kept. One end of that shed also formed a shelter used during the annual church picnic or other events to dispense food and drinks after the side panels were raised.
Below is a view of the interior of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. In winter the two wood-burning stoves (front and rear) provided heat for the building. In the rear and extending completely along both sides was a balcony with limited seating.
When Rev. Brauer arrived at this congregation, the pulpit was taller and his head reached near the top of the railing panels of the balcony. It was not long before there was a decision to lower the pulpit.
In the rear balcony was a pipe organ.
In the steeple were two bells, each of a different size and pitch. One had to ring the two bells from behind the organ where the ropes extended up to the bells in the steeple. Ringing them in rhythm was somewhat difficult, because the two sizes caused them to rotate at different speeds. Not everyone could master the technique for ringing in rhythm.
The bells were rung at the beginning of a service and at the end. By tradition, the bells were rung at 6 PM on Saturday evening as a reminder of the upcoming Sabbath. When someone died, the bells were rung and tolled at 6 PM on the day of the persons’s death. First the two were rung in rhythm. Then the large bell tolled slowly to count out the decades of the person’s age followed by the small bell to count out the remaining single years. Then the in-rhythm ringing was repeated.
Below is the church that was planned during Rev. Brauer’s term and constructed after he left.
Redeemer Lutheran Church, Green Bay, Wisconsin
At the rear of the church building one can see the entrance to the former, small church building. It was retained and used for meetings and Sunday school.
Redeemer Lutheran Church interior. The electronic organ was located in the space in the left, front corner.
(Below ). The congregation provided a parsonage for Rev. Brauer and his family. It was a three bedroom, two story structure with a one car garage in the rear. The side entry on the right provided a private access to a study. Later, during his tenure, the congregation built a new house adjacent to a new site for a school and a future church.
