Morning Star

Organized: 1775

County: Mecklenburg    City: Matthews (Mint Hill) NC

Affiliation: NC Synod    Status: Active

The accepted date of organization of Morning Star, called Crooked Creek, is 1775. We do not know who developed the mission; however in the old records of St. John’s Church in Cabarrus County, we find that Reverend Adam N. Marcard, who was pastor of St. John’s church from 1797-1800, served this church in connection with St. John’s congregation. He recorded some of his official acts for Crooked Creek in the St. John’s Record Book, from which I quote; “As deacons in the congregation at Crooked Creek, I (Adam Marcard) installed on November 11, 1798, Conrad Cramm and John Herche (Harkey). Also on that day, the church there was dedicated by me.” Pastor Marcard goes on to record in St. John’s Record Book, a list of more than a dozen names who communed on November 11, 1798. Many of these names are found on the old Record Book of Morning Star. By referring to a map, it will be seen that Morning Star is located near one of the upper branches of Crooked Creek, hence, the name for the church. All this substantiates three things: (1) There was an organized church at Crooked Creek as early as 1798; (2) There was a completed house of worship there; and (3) The names and records identify this Crooked Creek as the present Morning Star Lutheran Church.  A few years later, the church is referred to as McCobbin’s Creek. This is almost certainly intended for McAlpine’s Creek in vicinity. In 1815, McRobbin’s Creek Church was enrolled as a member of the Synod and two delegates from that Church attended; Jacob Long and John Harkey from Morning Star Church. This Identifies  McRobbin’s Creek as Morning Star. The church was first located nearly a mile east of the present church behind Dairs McCray’s, near Hoods Crossroad, in what is known as the Walter Abernathy pasture. The site is marked by the old cemetery. Names and dates from old slabs there: 1829- M.E. Harkey and Polly Phifer – May 9, 1804. This graveyard still has part of the original rock wall, and it is quite large. In 1952, it had grown timber which were some years before as the stumps were nearly decayed. The first building which Rev. Marcard dedicated November 11, 1799 was made of logs. How long it was used or why they moved, is not known. The second church was built of logs and was on the present lot as the “old church,’ but the date of construction is not known. This building burned. The third building, the present “old church” was erected in 1906. It is a frame building and is in fairly good condition today, with a vestibule in between. The fourth building, our present educational wing, was built in the Spring of 1960. The present sanctuary was erected in 1975. The final addition connecting these two structures was built in 1983-84. At this same time, the educational wing was renovated to include only Sunday School classrooms, a library-conference room, and a choir room. One of these classrooms is currently being used as an office for the intern. This church was for many years in a parish with St. Luke’s, Monroe, where the parsonage was located. In 1955, the NC Synod decided to aid Morning Star so it could become a single church parish. At that time, a parsonage was built next to the present complex. Reverend Robert B. Lineberger was Morning Star’s first full-time pastor serving from June 15, 1955 until February 28, 1958. In approximately 1850, some fifty persons communed at a single service. During this same period, in common with almost all churches, there were “Negro” members, presumably the slaves of white members.  This congregation gradually became smaller for many years, so that in the 1940’s, it was not uncommon to have less than ten persons attending a worship service. In 1973, Morning Star finally became a totally self-supporting congregation with no more financial aid from Synod. Until the last fifty years or so, most Lutherans in the area were of German background of pre-Revolutionary War. Morning Star is nearly 100 years older that the next oldest Lutheran Church in the county. Some of Morning Star’s historical records are housed with the NC Synod in Salisbury, NC.

List of Pastors

A.N. Marcard 1797-1800

David Henkel 1815-1818

David Henkel 1830

Nehemiah Bonham 1831

Adam Miller, Jr. 1831-1832

Henry Goodman

Adam Miller, Jr.

A.J. Fox

A.J. Brown 1833-1839

Ephraim Rudisill 1840-1855

Jacob Killian 1840-1855

Timothy Moser 1856

Christian Moretz 1860

M.Q. Boland 1902

D.Berheim (supply)

R.H. Cline 1907-1910

W.J. Boger 1913-1918

P.L. Miller 1920-1922

W.A. Lutz (supply)

J.E. Stockman 1923-1925

J.D. Sheppard 1929-1931

C.R. Pless 1931-1934

C.V. Deal 1934-1941

F.K. Efird 1941-1943

H.D. Hawthorne 1943-1944

H.F. Lineberger 1945-1949

C.E. Norman 1949-1954

Robert Lineberger June 55 – Mar. 58

Lewis L. Kyles May 58 – July 62

George W. Shuford June 63 – Apr. 66

John D. Barringer Oct. 66 – Nov. 70

Robert G. Young June 71-

Robert Land

G. Steven Plonk June 80- Jan. 84

James Rogers Jan. 85 – Nov. 88

Timothy Glenham July 89-

John Mouritsen 1999-