History of the Church at Baldwins Mill

Around 1850 Asa and Horace Baldwin built and operated a sawmill on the south branch of the Little Wolf River, giving the small settlement that was created its name: Baldwins Mill.

Our story begins in 1884 when a number of Lutheran pioneers in the Baldwin’s Mill community had the earnest desire to organize a local congregation.

Members met and worshipped in a nearby home until the congregation resolved to build a church. Construction of our current church began in the spring of 1906. The parsonage was built the following year.

St. John’s Today

Today at St. John’s Lutheran Church we are a welcoming church family with conservative values. We are joyfully inviting and equipping all people to share Christ’s love. Our members have a wide variety of talents and abilities that are willingly used to support our church in its mission to nurture Christians in the faith.

We support several missions locally and abroad with our monies and prayers. Our Quilting and Prayer Shawl Ministries offer tangible ways of showing God’s love to those in our community and abroad.

On the second Sunday of each month we have a potluck meal called Celebration Sunday. Celebration Sunday is our way of celebrating birthdays and anniversaries for that month with food and fellowship. All are welcome.

LCMC Statement of Faith

We believe, teach, and confess the Triune God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe, teach, and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe in him.

• Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom everything was made and through whose life, death, and resurrection God fashions a new creation.

• The proclamation of God's message to us as both law and gospel is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy in the person and work of Jesus Christ through whom God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself.

• The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God.  Inspired by God's Spirit speaking through their authors, they record and announce God's revelation centering in Jesus Christ.  Through them God's Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world.

We believe, teach, and accept the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the sole authoritative source and norm of our proclamation, faith, and life.

We accept the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as true declarations of the scriptural faith we believe, teach, and confess.

We believe, teach, and accept the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism as true witnesses to the Word of God, normative for our teaching and practice.  We acknowledge that we are one in faith and doctrine with all the churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.

We believe, teach, and confess the other confessional writings in the Book of Concord namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise, the Large Catechism, and the formula of Concord, as further valid expositions of the Holy Scriptures.

We believe, teach, and confess the gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the priesthood of all believers for God's mission in the world.

Meet the Staff at St. John’s

  • Pastor Cliff was voted in as a contract pastor for our congregation in October of 2022 for a one-year term. We love him so much that he has been voted to continue serving St. John’s for another term.

  • Music at St. John’s

    Lorraine, our church organist, and Maria, our violinist, provide the beautiful music for each worship service. Lorraine also directs our choir.

  • Church Secretary & Social Media Manager

    Becky has been our church secretary since the beginning of 2021. Thanks to her we now have multiple versions of our Sunday worship bulletin, weekly worship services on PowerPoint, a St. John’s Lutheran-LCMC Facebook page, and, most impressively, this website!

  • Financial Secretary

  • President Dan Gorell, Vice President Thomas Ferg, Secretary Maria Peterson, Treasurer Dee Fietzer, Council Members Richard Elandt and Duane Sager

  • Building & Grounds

  • Church Custodian