COMMUNITY
SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
CHURCH
Continued from Page 1A
Pastor Siefkes also began
broadcasting the Sunday
service on the radio station
KBKR.
That outreach has con-
tinued, fi rst to a television
broadcast and lately to a
livestream on Facebook.
Sig’s father was called to
serve a church in Vanport,
near Portland, in 1943.
“A large number of them
were Lutherans from Min-
nesota, and they needed a
pastor,” Sig said.
(Created between Vancou-
ver and Portland to house
shipyard workers during
World War II, Vanport was
destroyed by the fl ooding
Columbia River in 1948.)
Sig moved with his family
to Portland, but came back to
Baker City during summers,
and after high school.
“My roots went down
here,” he said.
Although adult life took
him to California, Sig moved
back to Baker City in 1993.
During a span without a
pastor — prior to Pastor Ian
Wolfe’s arrival in 2016 —
the congregation took turns
preaching on Sundays.
“A bunch of us took turns.
I ended up doing it more and
more,” Sig said. “I was so
nervous at fi rst. But you can
get used to anything after
awhile.”
On a recent Sunday, when
Pastor Wolfe was out of
town, Sig again delivered the
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
The stained glass window is the only part of the original First Lutheran Church that
remains. The original church, built in 1921, was remodeled about 30 years later.
message — but this time he
spoke the words of his father.
Pastor Siefkes’ handwrit-
ten sermons are currently
on display for the church’s
100th celebration.
Dan Freeman, 76, grew
up attending First Lutheran
Church, and he’s still in-
volved today.
“The folks became mem-
bers in ’38,” Freeman said.
“There were six of us kids,
and we all were baptized
Baker CIty First Lutheran Church/ Contributed Photo
First Lutheran Church was organized and incorporated
in 1921. This photo shows the original building.
and confi rmed in the
church.”
The Freemans lived on
a ranch outside town, and
First Lutheran was the
family gathering place.
“When we came to town,
the church was where we’d
always meet,” he said. “The
church was the social gath-
ering in the community.”
With a growing congrega-
tion, the church was remod-
eled and expanded by 1951.
Only the stained glass
window remains of the
original building (the win-
dow was enlarged with a
border to create the current
version).
The church underwent
more change 50 years later
with an expansion fi nished
in 2001. The parsonage,
which sat just south of the
church, was moved to a
different location in Baker
City. A fellowship hall, with
a larger kitchen and eleva-
tor, was constructed in its
place.
Just like the original
stained glass, other artifacts
were saved such as the rose-
colored glass that was made
into crosses to adorn the
windows.
A
nother staple at
First Lutheran
Church has been
Kids Club, started by Virginia
Buchfi nck in 1982.
Buchfi nck, who turned
101 in October 2020, moved
to Baker City in 1949, and
immediately joined First
Lutheran.
Over her many years of in-
volvement at the church, it is
the ministry to children that
stands out in her mind.
“Kids Club was always it,”
she said.
A hay ride to the Freeman
Ranch was a fall tradition.
“The minute they got there,
they scattered,” she said with
a smile.
She started Kids Club, she
said, when she noticed that
children from the Lutheran
Church were attending youth
programs at other churches
in town.
“I got this idea from the
Lord, I’m sure,” she said. “I
didn’t dream it up myself.”
Sig Siefkes, whose father, Siegfried, served as pastor of
the Baker City First Lutheran Church from 1936-43, looks
at the many photos and mementoes that document the
church’s 100-year history.
“When we came to town, the church was where
we’d always meet. The church was the social
gathering in the community.”
— Dan Freeman, 76, whose parents joined the
First Lutheran Church in Baker City in 1938
Kids Club met on Fridays
during the school year. Activ-
ities included singing, a Bible
study, crafts and games.
“We had 20-some kids in
our own church,” she said.
“Then kids came from outside
Baker CIty First Lutheran Church/ Contributed Photo
This photo shows Pastor Siegfried Siefkes, far right, and
his wife Margarethe at the organ. Siefkes was pastor at
First Lutheran from 1936-1943.
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the church.”
Her involvement with Kids
Club continued until 2016.
“I really enjoyed all the
kids,” she said. “And the kids
seemed to enjoy all that we
did.”