There were notable physical changes in the German Lutheran Church, now in Madison County, during Rev. Carpenter’s pastorate. The building was expanded. The original 1740 building was a simple rectangle with the altar and pulpit in the middle of one long side. A wing was added opposite to the altar which now makes the major seating area. Unfortunately, we do not have a date for this wing but probably it was early in the Carpenter pastorate. Then, in 1802, an organ was purchased from David Tannenberg in Lititz, Pennsylvania. At the time, Tannenberg was the best known and most popular builder of organs in America. This organ, now more than two hundred years old, is still used actively.
Rev. Carpenter held Communion Services twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. The names of people taking Communion were recorded, so we have a history of attendance at the church. These figures show that a steady decline in attendance throughout his pastorate which lasted until 1813. The cause is uncertain but the choice of the language seems to have been a major factor. There was a need for the use of English, but Carpenter was not a good preacher in English. So, it may have been that the decline in attendance was due to the lack of English services.
Shortly after 1800, Rev. Carpenter made a trip to Kentucky and he liked the area in Boone County, the northern most county in Kentucky. Based on his recommendation, a group of Germanna citizens moved to Boone County. For several years they were without a minister but held lay services. They had built a log church and had a constitution based on suggestions of Rev. Carpenter. In 1813 Rev. Carpenter moved his family to Boone County and became their pastor.
While Rev. Carpenter was still in Virginia, the church hired Friederich Schad as organist and as schoolteacher. He served from 1804 to 1806. Probably with the declining attendance, the church could no longer afford him.
After Rev. Carpenter left, the church had ministers who could preach in both English and in German. At first, one Sunday a month was in English, then the language alternated each Sunday until one service a month sufficed for those who wanted German. Before long, the church became English, even though the names of the majority of the members were German.
About 1850, the minutes of the church first record the name "Hebron". A history of the church was written by W. P. Huddle in 1907 and updated by Margaret Grim Davis in 1990. There are a few points on which the story here differs, largely because of the new documents that have been found.
(20 Mar 06)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.