Kitchener church reveals contents of 100-year-old time capsule

CTV Kitchener: Time Capsule A local church has opened up a 100-year-old time capsule. Krista Simpson finds out what was inside.

A Kitchener church caught a glimpse of what life was like for congregants and citizens a century ago. St. Matthews Lutheran church revealed the contents of a time capsule, put in the building when it went up in 1914.

“All that history, all those memories 100 years later, I felt that as I pulled it out of that little enclosed space,” says Katherine Altenburg, who is the pastor at St. Matthews Lutheran church.

Inside were several items to be shared with the congregation.

“Some of the interesting things were a program from the day, an order of service, there's a German bible in there, there's some constitutional papers in there, there's an old berlin newspaper, a couple of newspapers from Toronto,” says Altenburg.

“One thing that I found interesting was that there's a picture of George the 5th as well as Kaiser Wilhelm the 2nd, and within months these two gentlemen, both grandsons of Queen Victoria, would be opposite sides during the first world war,” adds Elaine Baldwin, a local parishioner and librarian.

The 100-year-old capsule also represents a faith in the future.

“The congregation of 100 years ago must have anticipated that the congregation would still be thriving 100 years or beyond, or the cornerstone and its contents would not have been laid in the first place,” says church member Jim Moses.

The items inside the time capsule will be put on display under glass for people to enjoy.