Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researchers without restrictions. Researchers must register and agree to all copyright laws and archives policies before using the collection. Please contact the Shenandoah County Library before visiting to use this collection.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Permission to publish material...

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item] Mt. Zion Lutheran Church Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia, USA.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donation with special restrictions

Processing Information

Items were acquired in a semi-processed state from the church. When possible, original titles and information was retained. Several scrapbooks were disassembled as part of processing due to preservation efforts. Photograph ID’s were retained as written following by an effort by the church to acquire additional information. Financial records containing bank information were destroyed.

Administrative Information

Mt. Zion Lutheran Church dates to 1829 when Abraham Smutz and his family sold land to a group of church trustees. This land contained a house that the deed required to be used as a school and church for any denomination. Mt. Zion’s Lutheran congregation met there twice a month during the 1870s.

In 1884 the Lutherans in the area began work on their own church building beside the Union church. The area surrounding the new church had previously been dedicated as a cemetery and the first burials at the site occurred in 1882.

In 1895 Mt. Zion Lutheran Church joined with St. Luke Lutheran Church to form a new parish. The coordination would last, with a few interruptions, to this day. In 1898 the two congregations joined with Lebanon Lutheran Church in the north end of the county to form an expanded parish. Since transportation was primitive the minister’s time at each church was limited. Mt. Zion hosted the minister on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays.

In 1908 a narthex and belfry was added to the church. The membership of the church numbered 156 adults in 1912. Other changes occurred over the next several decades as modern utilities came to the area. In 1925 electricity was added to the church’s parsonage. During the next decade a sink and water pump were also added. Finally, the church’s first bathroom with indoor plumbing was installed in 1943.

In 1948 when the church replaced the dual entrances and aisles, originally designed to segregate men and women, with a single entrance. During the project the church also added a large altar picture featuring Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to honor members who had fought in World War II. When these changes were dedicated in 1949, the church listed 150 communing members. The final major renovation to the church occurred in 1980-1981 when a social hall and parking lot was added.

In the decades that followed, the make-up of the Lutheran Parish to which Mt. Zion belonged changed drastically. Lebanon Church left the parish in 1969 when the other churches voted to realign the parish to include only two churches. This parish alignment would last until 1988, when Mt. Zion decided to become a one-church parish. However, the church was unable to support a minister on its own. In Mt. Zion and St. Luke rejoined in 2015 and continue to operate as a dual parish today.

Scope and Content

The Mt. Zion Lutheran Church Collections consists of approximately 35 linear feet of material stored in 29 boxes, 2 oversize folders, and 1 framed item. The materials contained within include documents, newspapers, ledgers, roster books, minute books, notebooks, scrap books, photographs, negatives, and bound publications. The collection is organized into the following 10 series:

Arrangement

All items are organized by material type within the following series:

Series I: Church Reports and Directories, 1958-2011 Box 1: 38758101567070 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Series II: Church Services and Devotionals Box 2: 38758101567088 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Series III: Newsletters and Newspapers, 1940-2019 Box 3: 38758101567096 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 29: 38758101567369 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Series IV: Mt. Zion Lutheran Church Council and Parish Council Minutes, 1900-2005 Box 4: 38758101567104 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 5: 38758101567112 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 6: 38758101567120 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 7: 38758101567138 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 8: 38758101567146 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 21: 38758101567310 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Series V: Church Membership Records, 1956-2005 Box 9: 38758101567153 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 10: 38758101567161 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 11: 38758101567179 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Series VI: Church Records, 1884-2013 Box 12 38758101567187 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 13 38758101567195 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 29: 38758101567369 Stack 10, Shelf 3 OVERSIZE FOLDER 1: 38758101567591 Map Case Drawer E, Folder 11 OVERSIZE FOLDER 2: 38758101567583 Map Case Drawer E, Folder 12 Series VII: Women of the Church, 1925-2013 Box 14: 38758101567203 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 15: 38758101567211 Stack 10, Shelf 2 Series VIII: Church Youth, 1919-2013 Box 16: 38758101567229 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 17: 38758101567237 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 18: 38758101567245 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 19: 38758101567252 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 20: 38758101567260 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 29: 38758101567369 Stack 10, Shelf 3 FRAMED STORAGE 38758101567575 Series X: Church Books, 1856-2009 Box 22: 38758101567286 Stack 10, Shelf 2 Box 23: 38758101567294 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 24: 38758101567302 Stack 10, Shelf 2 Series X: Audio Visual Materials, 1884-2007 Box 25: 38758101567328 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 26: 38758101567336 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 27: 38758101567344 Stack 10, Shelf 3 Box 28: 38758101567351 Stack 10, Shelf 3

Within each series, materials are organized chronologically with undated materials in the rear. The exception is Series X, Church Books which is sorted by size due to storage concerns.

An index for the recording in series X: Audio Visual Materials is:

ID	Title
Mt. Zion 01	Mt. Zion Remembers April 22 2010
Mt. Zion 02	Mt. Zion Remembers Oral History November 2009
Mt. Zion 03	Mt. Zion Reformation Video, October 29 1995
Mt. Zion 04	Easter Program at Mt. Zion 1992
Mt. Zion 05	Mt. Zion Lutheran Church 1996
Mt. Zion 06	Mt. Zion Church Homecoming September 1, 1996
Mt. Zion 07	Pastor Murray Christmas
Mt. Zion 08	Mt. Zion Church
Mt. Zion 09	Interview Mary Wetzel (93 years old) by Pastor Murray
Mt. Zion 10	Mt. Zion Youth Favorites
Mt. Zion 11	Baptism & Dave Program
Mt. Zion 12	Vacation Bible School, July 26-29 2004