Traveling for Faith

We all travel for different reasons at different times of the year. This December brought a special trip to see the Christmas Country Church Tour. The tour covered over 30 churches in Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry, and Ste Genevieve Counties in Missouri. While of course we couldn’t make it to all of them, my husband Keith and I made it to nine or ten! We heard Christmas music, sampled dessert fare, and enjoyed some of the loveliest churches decorated for Christmas! Most of all, we revived our faith in the reason for the season.

We had been to this tour a couple of years ago, and we loved it so much that I scheduled an overnight for my husband Keith for his Christmas present. What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of our Savior, to see beautiful faith filled churches decorated for the Christmas event.

Where to stay?

Trish Enzfeld of Perry County Heritage Tourism had shared the great food and bed and breakfast aspect of Eggers & Co. General Store. This general store has been converted into a bed and breakfast and during the church tour they offered German food for lunch. Perfect for us!

I love the story behind the store.  On their website they share, “…Toward the end of the 19th century, a man named R.P. Farrar ran the Farrar General Store. In 1896, another man, Bueckman, built a second one. In 1903 the Bueckman store was sold to Herman Klaus and his son, Henry.  Around that time, a change in political climate meant that R. P. Farrar, who ran the town’s post office from his store, turned over his postal duties to Henry Eggers, a Republican. The post office moved to the Klaus store.”

The Egger’s two youngest children bought the store then they ran it for 46 years. Later the store was purchased by former employees of the store, and they created the Farrar General Market. With memories of her grandfather’s store, in 2004 granddaughter, Ellen Frye and her husband, Steve, purchased the property converting it into an amazing bed and breakfast. It has also been added to the National Registry of Historic Places.  

Our Stay

We stayed in Walt’s Room. Featuring a king-size bed, a bathroom with an old-fashioned claw-foot tub there is also a very cool rocking chair. There is no Internet, and phone service is periodic, and they don’t accept credit cards. We went off grid, and totally relaxed. Breakfast was German, amazing, and so was the conversation and stories from the Frye’s.

I love that they let children come to their Polar Post office/aka Eggers. Kids put letters to Santa in the old-fashioned post box. Then the list of Santa’s “kids” is updated. We could see this fun list, and the Santa outfit ready for the big day!

In the morning before consuming our German breakfast and heading out, Keith and I took a walk. The weather was beautiful, picture perfect. Zetor’s Tractor was located next door a Zetor dealership, and tractor mechanic shop. Gawking at tractors and stopping in to shoot the breeze made Keith’s morning. I was enamored with the lovely creek nearby.

The church tour

We stopped in at the tourism office in Perryville and picked the list and map of churches. 38 churches were on the list. The tour lasts for two days from 2p.m. until 8p.m. A few churches were not open, but most on the list you could tour.

We headed out to see how many we could fit in! Our first stop was the Brazeau Presbyterian Church. This church has special meaning to us as Lutherans. We had learned in the past that the Presbyterians arrived in the Brazeau Creek Valley in early 1819. These kind souls helped save the lives of many of the German Lutherans. The Germans had nothing when they arrived. A ship carrying provisions was lost at sea. The church we toured is the 2nd one at this location. It was built in 1851. One rather startling fact we learned was that there were slaves in the area, and they sat in the upper balcony. We were able to see where they carved their names and in one place (we were told) the date of the emancipation proclamation.

Lutherans in the area

Our next stop was Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Updated in 2006, it was stunning.

Then it was on to Altenburg, where German Lutheran history reigns. In 1838 a group of Lutherans came to America. They arrived from Germany and the story unfolds at the Lutheran Heritage Center. About 700 Lutherans landed first in New Orleans. They traveled up the Mississippi. Then landing in St. Louis, eventually arriving in Missouri, these mostly Saxons left in search of religious freedom.

Here you can also see the log cabin church and museum. The log cabin was constructed in 1839 and served as the first Concordia Lutheran seminary!

In the Heritage Center, it was like a festival of Christmas trees. Besides the history, and the trees, there are remnants of life back when like this cool Model T.

Lutheran Churches in Altenburg

Next door to the museum is the Trinity Lutheran Church of Altenburg. They broke ground in 1866. Designed like the Lutheran Church in New Minden, Illinois, we admired the lovely poinsettia tree inside. The alter, organ installed in 1912 and stained-glass windows are stunning!

Down the road is the Immanual Lutheran Church. In 1839, this church seceded from the original Altenburg group. They met at first in their homes then a log building, and eventually built the new church that was dedicated in 1860.

Churches in Pocahontas

On our way to Pocahontas, we stopped at the lovely Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Wells. With its lovely beams, it was remarkable. They reminded us that “this is the celebration of Jesus Christ our Lord, for without this there is no reason to celebrate.”

We had not traveled to Pocahontas before, so all of these churches were new to us. We loved our visit especially to the Apple Creek Presbyterian Church. This was one of the churches that farm broadcaster Max Armstrong suggested we stop at. It is the 3rd oldest Presbyterian /church west of the Mississippi. Established in 1821, life was still the prairie at this time. A paper about the church said that it served as both church and a place of justice. “The elders visited the homes to see that the members were living a Christian life.”

With no local law enforcement, the church was the local authority. The church there today was erected in 1873. Heated by two log furnaces, there is no longer a regular service. However, they open four times a year. The day we entered the church, a woman had sat down at the organ, and the whole church was filled with her beautiful music!

The alter at the St. John’s Lutheran church was so lovely. It almost brought tears to your eyes.

Our last church of the day was framed in lights. It was the Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar not far from Eggers! Before heading to the last church, we had a great supper at the Bayou Bar & Grill!

Faith filled stops rounded out the trip.

We only stayed one night, but on the way home we made a few stops. One was at the Belique Cemetery. This was the former home of the Nativity Blessed Virgin Mary Parish. In the center of the cemetery is an amazing cross with Jesus on it. A blessed stop.

The most astounding thing though was the shadow of a cross on a shed. While in all reality this was the shadow of a telephone pole, the timing and the angle shed God’s love right for us to see while heading home.

A few other stops!

While in the area, we also stopped at the American Tractor Museum. This is one of the Agricultural Treasures listed in my new eBook Agricultural Treasures Guidebook. Here I learned that the museum will be expanding by 2400 feet in 2024. There is also a cool old jail that will be open. Arley Bigbilger was on hand and posed with me at the jail. Arley does most of the tractor restorations for Kenny Bucheit’s collection that makes up the majority of the museum.

During our visit, we also had to stop by the cool Hadler Shoe Tree.

The fourth throw was successful!

Our last local stop was the Charles A. Lindbergh “Field to Flight” stop. We learned that for several years while barnstorming that Lindbergh in the fall of 1923 and beyond would visit Perryville and offer 15-minute rides over the city. These flights would later qualify him to be a mail pilot!

For our trip, we traveled for faith, for fun, and a chance to disconnect with crowds and technology, and reconnect with God. There is a lot to love in Perryville and the surrounding area. Where have you traveled for faith lately? Note that Max Armstrong will be airing coverage of his stop at a few of these lovely churches on RFD TV 12/23, 24 and 25!