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NILES — St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Niles may not be able to host services within its doors due to the social distancing guidelines, but that will not stop its members from celebrating its 100-year history as a congregation and a church.

With the celebratory theme for the centennial of “It’s Still All About Jesus,” Pastor Joseph Liss hopes that the church can continue to spread its message of Christ’s love through the community for the next 100 years.

“It’s about spreading that message out,” Liss said.

Liss has been the pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church for six years now, five of them on his own. St. Paul’s had originally scheduled a celebration for the centennial to be hosted on May 17, but with the ongoing situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, Liss and the congregation have tentatively moved it to the fall. When they do get to celebrate together, the plan is to host Pastor Ted Laesch, of St. Louis, Missouri, and have him speak at the celebration. His grandfather, Pastor Theodore Laesch, led the congregation of St. Paul’s Lutheran for 50 years, from 1931 to 1981. His son, Fred Laesch, is still an active member of the church.

“We had things planned out,” Liss said. “We are starting the next 100 years with a bang, I guess.”

The church was officially founded in January 1920. Today’s membership at the church sits around 420 people, with a weekly attendance between 120 to 130 worshipers when services are hosted in the sanctuary. In 1920, however, the church had humble beginnings in the basement of a public library, with a gathering of 20 on a mission.

Long time church members Fred Laesch and Tine Crouch recall the history, pastors and the construction of the church’s current building on Sycamore Street in 1957.

With the railroad and railroad worker presence in Niles, a pastor from Mishawaka visited the area to see if a church should be established.

“He, Pastor Turk, came up with the fact that we did,” Fred Laesch said. “The original church was down on Seventh and Ferry streets.”

The church’s current building that sits on Sycamore Street is much larger than the original location, and came along in 1957.

“We are so blessed with our ‘new’ building. It’s just incredible,” Laesch said.

Crouch was 8 years old and remembers being at the dedication.  Now 68 years old, the church is a part of her family tradition as well.

“My family has been in the church five generations now,” Crouch said. “Most people worship at other churches throughout their life. I’ve stayed at the same church.”

She said that she has raised her family through St. Paul’s, that her daughter was married there, and that two of her grandsons have been baptized at through the church.

“We’ve just kind of kept it going,” Crouch said.

Crouch’s family and the Laesch family were close as members through the years.

“My parents were friends with his parents. We’ve been like family through all these years,” Crouch said of Fred Laesch and his family.

Laesch has been with the church for 80 of its 100 years.

“It’s my second home,” he said.

Of the church’s current status, Crouch and Laesch said they were pleased.

“[Pastor Liss] is a solid shepherd of St. Paul’s,” Crouch said. “We’ve been blessed all these years.”

Liss himself could not be happier with his congregation, and especially in how it is handling the current transition of services to online format, while the COVID-19 shifts plans around.

“I’ve noticed the people are very supportive. They’re very strong in their faith,” Liss said. “Not a lot of them get rattled, even this being home for the least four or five Sundays. When I make phone calls to people, it seems like everybody is just sitting tight. I think that’s just the kind of people we have here. They’re rock solid in their faith.”

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Niles has seen pastors plant roots and grow families for 100 years. Some pastors have stayed for 50 years, and families have stayed for generations.

“It seems like every pastor that’s been here has had a purpose,” Liss said. “That’s kept us going too. Every stage of the 100 years, the pastor that came along had a certain set of gifts that was needed at that time.”