[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] churches in Vohlynia

[Charlotte Dubay]

John Marsh wrote on Sep 14, 2013;
According to the publication Die  Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinden in Russland printed in 1909  ("The  Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Russia"), the cornerstone for  a wooden Lutheran church was laid in Heimtal in 1873, followed by the  consecration on the 20th of August 1878.  It was some time later that  the old manse was replaced with a new stone manse however.  

John,
Thanks for the heads up on marriage dates available to us. I will have to buy a membership so I can search. 
And yes, that is what I had read also - except that I understood it as this: The wooden "church" structures that they built (and not only at Heimthal) were not considered "parishes" or "parish churches". They were considered "chapels". And one Lutheran pastor had so many to attend to that his sometimes would only visit a "chapel" once in a year. I believe that there were 10,000 worshipers who attended the stone Zhitomir Parish at this time. Pastor Wasen whom I earlier wrote about lived in the stone manse there in Zhitomir. And the chapels' services were often times conducted by lay people (or as Jerry pointed out, sometimes by kantors - if they had enough men.)

Like much of European history and geography at the time, it is so muddy. Names change, places change hands, people move, people are called by different "names"...etc. I think it is so interesting, but as I tell all of my cousins who are not involved in genealogy research, nothing is set in stone. (I also always preface my work with "These are my facts - until I find new data". That is not copyrighted so you are welcome to use it. hah) 

BTW, some family cousins get very upset with me. I find a record where their loved one's name is spelled differently, or their birthplace is questioned, and my cousins want me to use the data that THEY "know is right". I tell them that I cannot/willnot change the records that I find,  but will include both dates, names, or whatever. Not so good for me! (One cousin keeps telling me that their father "spelled his name wrong" until he was 21!) Gotta laugh!

Charlotte DuBay
hoeserhistory at aol.com