Our History

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For more than a century, First English Lutheran Church has been part of the story of Platteville.

Our congregation traces its beginnings to a group of local Lutherans who desired worship in English rather than German. In 1902, English-language Lutheran services were being held in a building at Fourth and Mineral Streets. From those beginnings grew the congregation that would become First English Lutheran Church.

The name itself tells something important about our history. “First English” did not originally describe ethnicity. It reflected a decision to proclaim the gospel in the language increasingly spoken by the surrounding community. From the beginning, this congregation was asking an important question: How can we share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people who are here?

That question continues to shape us today.

The congregation's early church was damaged in the Platteville City Hall fire of 1926. Soon afterward, plans began for a new house of worship.

The present church at 215 West Pine Street was designed by architect Leroy Gaarder of Albert Lea, Minnesota, and constructed in 1928–1929. Its brick exterior, pointed arches, buttresses, stone details, and steep roof reflect the Late Gothic Revival style.

More than simply a building, however, the church became a spiritual home where generations of Platteville families have gathered for baptisms and confirmations, weddings and funerals, Sunday worship and festival celebrations.

As the congregation and its ministries grew, so did the building. An addition was constructed in 1956, and another major addition was completed in 1999, providing new space for ministry, fellowship, education, and accessibility.

First English's history also reflects the larger story of Lutheranism in America.

The congregation has lived through generations of change in the Lutheran church and eventually became part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Through those changes, the congregation has remained rooted in the Lutheran proclamation of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

But our history is not simply the history of denominations, pastors, or buildings. It is the history of people.

It is the story of generations who worshiped here, taught Sunday school, sang in choirs, prepared meals, cared for neighbors, served on committees, supported ministries, welcomed university students, buried loved ones, baptized children, celebrated marriages, and passed the faith from one generation to another.

First English's location in the heart of Platteville has given the congregation a particular relationship with the wider community and with the generations of students who have called Platteville home.

That commitment took a new form with the congregation's acquisition of the property at 170 South Chestnut Street, adjacent to the church. We have plans for the house to use it for Lutheran Campus Ministry, including space for students to gather as well as opportunities for other church and community ministries. At the moment it is a rooming house for students.

Campus ministry continues an old First English tradition in a new way: meeting people where they are and creating a place where they know they are welcome.

The Platteville of today looks very different from the Platteville of 1902. First English has changed, too.

And perhaps that is exactly what our founders would expect.

They were willing to do something new because they believed the gospel needed to be heard by the people around them. Their decision to worship in English was, in its own time, a decision about mission, welcome, and the future.

More than a century later, we inherit that same calling.

We honor our history not simply by preserving what previous generations built, but by continuing what they began: proclaiming Christ, welcoming our neighbors, serving our community, and trusting God to lead us into the future.

From a small gathering of English-speaking Lutherans in 1902 to the congregation worshiping at Pine and Chestnut today, First English's story is still being written.

And there is a place for you in the next chapter.