Excerpt from Centennial Anniversary of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sterling, Illinois, 1854-1954 The preparation of this booklet would have been well nigh impossible, had it not been for the excellent work done by Dr. E. C. Harris in preserving historical materials and records of our church. His published booklets were invaluable as were the almost' complete set of Synodical Minutes and the Proceedings of the Church Council. Access to the complete files of the Sterling Daily Gazette and assistance from synodical archivists has also been of great help. The Centennial Committee, appointed by the Church Council, has been very helpful to the writer in many ways. I especially wish to recognize Edwin R. Bowers who did so much in organizing this material for the printer. Space does not permit the listing of all who have helped. Some have come forward with important bits of information, others with needed pictures, and still others by showing an interest in this project. St. John's has had a rich history during the first hundred years. Let us all begin now to build an equally fine history for the second century in the life of our church. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.