About Us

Between 1838 and 1855 a group of German immigrants, fleeing the rise of Prussian militancy and the German Revolution, attempted to form a German Lutheran Church in their new home of Poughkeepsie. They met with little success because they had no minister, no building and very little money. Finally on February 17, 1856, under the direction of Pastor Karl Siebke, the First Evangelical German Lutheran Church was officially accepted into the New York Ministerium, marking our birth as a congregation. The church's first location was on Grand Street in Poughkeepsie, and we remained there until 1921, when the building was sold to St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church because of the need for more space. The church's present home, on the corner of Mill and Catharine Streets, was purchased on February 22, 1921, and the dedication of the new church home was held on January 28, 1923.

First Evangelical Lutheran has had a long and rich history of service to the community and has stayed true to its mission of immigrant assistance and refugee resettlement. In the 1940s the church worked with the Lutheran World Action and helped to settle more than 200 displaced persons in the Hudson Valley from war-torn Europe. Our congregation helped the refugees find housing, jobs and the services they needed to rebuild their lives. In 1972, our blanket sewing group began, creating more than 4,800 blankets for needy people throughout the world. In the summer of 1975, a Vietnamese family was adopted by the congregation and helped to settle in Poughkeepsie. More recently, we have sponsored families from Liberia and Bosnia and created a program to teach English to new Spanish-speaking immigrants.

First Evangelical Lutheran is home to the Lunch 'n Listen Music Series, which began in 1979 under the leadership of Hermann Wolff. This series of weekly noontime free concerts brings hundreds of people into our church to enjoy the talents of regional professional musicians as well as the beauty of our church sanctuary. For a listing of upcoming concerts, please click here. To view videos of our past performances, click here.

I have enjoyed preaching at First Evangelical Lutheran Church during the Fall of 2009, and I am pleased to start preaching on a weekly basis for 2010. For those of you who have not met me, I am currently the Program Manager at Hillcrest House. I oversee the emergency shelter and a transitional housing program for Hudson River Housing. I have been a minister for 20 years, serving two churches in Rhode Island and New York. Last week, I completed a degree in mental health counseling from Marist College. My wife, Jeanne Fenton, and I were married in August and we have four children between us. Christina is 21 and finishing college at American University, Patrick is 19 and is building an acting career in Los Angeles. James (16) and Michael (15) live with us and are often tagging along on Sunday morning. Jeanne is also a seminary graduate, a Certified Financial Planner and currently is a Long-Term Care Insurance specialist with Long Term Care Financial Partners. I will make an effort to announce sermon series each month starting in February. Once a year I like to do an “ask the pastor” sermon, so make a memo of topics about which you want to hear more. It is a joy to preach with your congregation and I year.

Rev. Todd Weir

Pastoral Team: Rev. Todd Weir, Minister of Worship; Rev. Richard Mueller, Metropolitan New York Synod Liaison; and Deacon Peter Slingerland, Minister of Care and Outreach.