Alabama man returns 160-year-old German Bible to Aurora church

Steven Harmeyer
Nov 12
2 min read

Updated: Nov 13

Wayne Smith grew up in Aurora before serving in the Korean War

(AURORA, Ind.) – An Aurora native has returned an antique German pulpit Bible to the church he grew up in.

91-year-old Wayne Smith attended St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran School in Aurora in the 1940’s.

In 1941, he was in second grade when he came across a book titled ‘Heilige Schrift’ that was hidden away in a closet at school.

“Although I didn’t know German, I realized I’d found a Bible because it was filled with paintings and drawings of biblical scenes,” Wayne recalled.

Because of World War II, St. John’s and other area churches had discontinued German language services and items such as that Bible were forbidden from being on display.

Wayne would spend several years as a student going through the Bible studying lithographs and attempting to decipher the German script.

Following his school days, Wayne served in the Korean War before he and his wife, Joyce, moved to Alabama, where they reside today.

In 1965, Wayne and his wife made a trip back to Aurora to visit his parents.

During the brief trip, he was talking with his former principal, Reverend William Dau, who told Wayne that the old schoolhouse was going to be torn down.

Wayne was asked if he wanted anything from the school, and he requested a map case and a set of wooden desks.

“I then asked if I could have the old German Bible I’d loved as a boy. He really brightened up at that,” Wayne recalled

The reverend said, "Wayne, that Bible is a precious thing. It’s only right that you should have it. Take it home."

The German Bible would rest on the Smith’s coffee table in Huntsville, Alabama for the next sixty years.

Earlier this summer, Wayne and Joyce decided to move into a retirement community and were discarding their possessions.

He told his daughter that he wanted to return the German Bible to its rightful place.

“It would please me for the Bible to be displayed somewhere inside the church and remain there for another century or more. I would love for people to see one of the original artifacts of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church,” Wayne said.

The couple recently returned to Aurora and met with St. John’s Pastor Mark Hesse as well as two of their cousins.

They donated the Bible to the church and it led Paster Hesse to do some detective work.

He learned that its printer, Chicago Publication and Lithograph Company, had operated from 1863 until a fire in 1871. This established the Bible’s age at 154 to 162 years old.

In keeping with Wayne wishes, the Bible has been placed on display in the rear narthex of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The public is invited to view it and an accompanying booklet explaining its journey through time.

“The once-forbidden German Bible has come home to Aurora. And with the old book is the spirit of a curious little boy who saved it for future generations when he opened a closet door,” said Wayne’s daughter, Venita Bonds.

Venita also wrote a story regarding this unique item and you can read that by clicking here.