Highlight: 35th Anniversary
April 25th, 2009
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Celebrating German Heritage |
Celebrate Germany!Special Events Throughout the Day:
Meet the Germans Celebrating the 75 year anniversary of the Fellowship Deaconry (1933-2008) In 2008 the New Jersey Folk Festival is highlighting the culture of German-Americans in the Garden State. We are especially pleased to be hosting the Deaconesses, or Sisters, of the Fellowship Deaconry of Liberty Corner, New Jersey, who will be meeting festival patrons and explaining their unique German heritage at the Folk Marketplace Tent throughout the day. The Sisters of today trace their spiritual roots back to the late 1800s in Eastern Germany. There a revival movement attracted young men and women to lives of service as pastors, missionaries, and deaconesses. Early in the 1920s, thousands of German people immigrated to the United States to escape the economic crisis that had gripped their country. While trying to make adjustments to their new homes, many of the German immigrants pleaded with the headquarters of the Fellowship Deaconry back in Germany to send deaconesses to help them as teachers and nurses in their communities. The first deaconesses made their home in Orange, New Jersey, but as the ministry grew, they needed more land and more housing. Finally a property in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, was selected and purchased in February 1933. It consisted of an old farmhouse and a large barn, both in rather dilapidated condition. The house had no running water, no electricity, and no heating system. The old-fashioned, open wells in the kitchen were the only source of water. This building, not far from the busy present-day intersection of Interstate Routes 78 and 287, would become the future residence for training deaconesses in North America. The main building would be known as the “Motherhouse”. This became a center for prayer, fellowship, and training. The compound today looks much different from those early humble years of beginning. There are expanded grounds (122 acres) and many new buildings. The Fellowship Deaconry is now the headquarters for fourteen chapels throughout the United States and Canada, keeping alive their German heritage and a commitment to God. |