FOLEY — St. Paul’s Lutheran Church is celebrating 100 years in the Forward City.

And for its centennial birthday, the 120-member congregation is not celebrating just once. Instead, Sunday will mark its third of four special services spaced throughout the year.

“We’ve already had two Sundays of special services,” Pastor Ryan Cramer said in an interview at the church. “The first one was Feb. 12, and the second was May 6.”

Sunday’s service will feature retired guest pastor Bob Rupp of Pensacola, Fla.

“We’ll have a dinner following the service,” Cramer said.

The final service, scheduled for Oct. 28, will be the church’s biggest, with special guests.

“The reason we picked Oct. 28 is that it’s Reformation Sunday,” Cramer said.

One reason St. Paul’s is stretching its centennial celebration throughout the year is because of its significance.

“A hundred years is a milestone,” Cramer said.

Another reason is that the exact date the church was started is unclear.

“Those records got lost or burned in a storm,” Cramer said.

But the reason for St. Paul’s origin is documented.

“We started off as a mission plant of the Wisconsin Senate in 1905,” Cramer said. “We became an official charter in 1912.”

The first church building was built on the corner of Rose and North Alston one year later.

“We worshiped there until 1958, when this church was built,” Cramer said.

The current building is adjacent to its predecessor, facing North Alston.

As part of Sunday’s celebration, attendees can delve into St. Paul’s history.

“We have a lot of historical documents and artifacts from St. Paul’s on display,” Cramer said.

That includes pictures taken over the last 100 years and financial records dating back to the church’s early days, which indicate that St. Paul’s received $159 total contribution for the entire year of 1912 and the following year, the pastor received a $5 annual salary.

“Try living on that this year,” Cramer joked.

Also displayed are several Bibles, one of which is an oversized 19th century German text made of leather and wood. Cramer explained that services were conducted in German at St. Paul’s and other Lutheran churches throughout the nation until the early to mid-20th century with the onset of World War I and Word War II.

“A lot of services switched to English because of those wars,” he said.

St. Paul’s is located at 400 N. Alston St., Foley. Sunday’s centennial celebration begins at 8:30 a.m. with Sunday school, followed by a worship service featuring Rupp at 10 a.m. For more information, call 251-923-7242.