In 1883, at the corner of Ridge Avenue and Chew Street in Allentown, a statue of Martin Luther stood outside St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

The Luther statue was made of white bronze by Monumental Bronze Company, Bridgeport, Conn.

According to “The History of the Allentown Conference of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania” by Preston A. Laury, St. Peter’s Church records the “Quarto-Centennial of the Reformation was observed in 1883, and commemorated by the erection of a statue of Luther, the first in America.”

The Quarto-Centennial celebrated the festival of the Protestant Reformation, along with Luther’s Nov. 10, 1483, birthday.

Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany.

In 1517, the Protestant Reformation ignited with the publication of Luther’s 95th Theses posted on the Wittenberg Roman Catholic Church door.

From that moment on, the German priest, professor and theologian became the face of the Protestant Reformation.

Subsequently, festivals commemorating the Protestant Reformation and Luther’s birthday became something to celebrate.

Luther objected to such use of his name by his followers.

“I ask that my name be left silent and people not call themselves Lutherans but rather Christian,” he wrote in 1522.

“Who is Luther? The doctrine is not mine. I have been crucified for not one.” (Admonition Against Insurrection, 1522)

With this statement, a Luther statue would be out of the question, as well.

Still, it was the hope of St. Peter’s Ridge Lutheran Church to take its historical statue to a Macungie site for a new German descent congregation.

Unfortunately, St. Peter’s Church dissolved in 2019.

The Luther statue was previously put in storage years ago and its whereabouts were unknown.

The statue was lost until this reporter poked around and located the statue in the yard of a textile mill where it had been stored.

With the helpful suggestion of Penny New-hard, a former St. Peter’s Church member, this reporter was able to trace the location of the statue.

The statue was transported to St. John’s Lutheran Church, Fogelsville, with the help of Council President Mike Divers.

In addition, generous donors upgraded the church’s landscape for the statue’s dedication.

The Lehigh Mission District paid the storage fees for the statue and a letter of ownership was obtained from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod Bishop Christopher deForest.

On Nov. 12, 2023, organ pipes bellowed Luther’s hymn, “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“A Mighty Fortress is our God”) as St. John’s Lutheran Church, Fogelsville, dedicated the 1883 Martin Luther statue that once belonged to St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

The Luther statue is an historical legacy of North American Lutheran heritage but above the artifact is faith in God.