JEFFERSON TWP — Members of St. Luke's Lutheran Church and School love learning about church history.

From the detailed meeting minutes that span more than a century to numerous drawings and artifacts, the church has resources at its disposal.

Recently, however, a group of members decided to further preserve its past by creating an oral history project of taped personal interviews.

"We've done about 15 interviews and we have several more to go,"said Mary Jean Montag, project organizer.

"It's going to take a long time because we keep finding more people that are no longer members but grew up in the church," she added.

The project, which will include more than 20 interviews recorded on DVDs, runs in conjunction with the church's 160th anniversary celebrations.

According to Montag and church member Rachel Meissner, the project was prompted by the a previous film project of faith story interviews, also recorded on DVDs.

She said the taped interviews are a great way to document many personal stories of current and former church members before memories begin to fade.

Interviews conducted over the past month range from humorous to serious, involving the church and its Christian school, said Montag, who taught at the school for 45 years.

"A lot of them are about the fun games they played and the lessons they learned."

In addition to the light-hearted, nostalgic stories of growing up in the church, a lot of the stories center around visual changes at St. Luke's.

According to Montag and Meissner, the original church was built in the mid-1830s by a group of German settlers.

Since then, the congregation has worshipped in two other buildings at the site on Hannahstown Road. One was built in 1874 and the current building in 1927.

"We are interviewing people in their late 70s, 80s and 90s, so some remember the second church and some don't," Montag said.

One of those interviewed is lifelong church member Alfred Maurhoff, 89.

"Al remembers the second church," she said. "He has an extremely good memory."

In addition to Maurhoff's recollections about how the second church looked when he was a boy, he also tells stories of his family and, like others, about how services were conducted.

"One lady remembers when men sat on the right side of the church and women sat on the left," Montag said.

Others, she said, recall stories of the old horse barn that doubled as a shelter for the horses and a play area for children.

Also, other interviews and records document the struggles of the Great Depression, when the pastor's salary was cut 20 percent, as well as other economic changes over time.

In addition to filming the interviews, which will be put on DVDs and made available to church members, the group of history buffs also is searching for as many historic items as can be found to supplement the interviews.

"I've just been digging through the closets and corners of the church, many people don't even know exist," Montag said. "Iknow where the little hiding places are."

Meissner, who has also been compiling artifacts, said so far they have found an old mimeograph, which is a stencil duplicating copy machine, as well as communion plates that she says are at least 125 years old.

"There are a lot of other things," Meissner said, "like offering baskets with long handles and two stained glass windows that were previously removed."

"They are just beautiful."