St. John's Lutheran Church to hand out water during Days of '47 Parade

SALT LAKE CITY — The Days of '47 Parade is approaching quickly, with dozens of floats prepared to travel through Salt Lake City on Friday to celebrate Pioneer Day.

With the recent record-breaking temperatures in Salt Lake City, and temperatures expected to rise to nearly 100 degrees, water is a necessity for all parade attendees and performers.

St. John's Lutheran Church, located at 1030 S. 500 East in Salt Lake City, just across from Liberty Park where the parade will end, will have a thousand chilled water bottles ready to hand out to thirsty parade-goers as part of the "Water of Life" outreach.

Twelve-year-old Alexa Foil said she enjoys the parade, but she also enjoys handing out water bottles to attendees. She told KSL she has been helping distribute water at the parade since she was two years old.

"I want to," she said simply. "I don't have to if I don't want to."

Her grandmother Elaine Phister, who had been handing out waters for the past 16 years, said she will join her and other members of their congregation on Friday.

The tradition traces back at least 20 years, according to Pastor Henry Malone, who recently retired as the pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in April. While now longer their active pastor, he has continued to help the church's activities committee organize the "Water of Life" event.

According to Malone, the church handed out more than 1,200 water bottles during last year's parade, but has scaled back to only 1,000 this year. There will still be dog bowls available for thirsty dogs to drink water, along with literature for those interested in learning more about the Lutheran Church.

"The Lutheran Church and everything else doesn't exist without a real effort on the part of human beings," Malone said. "That's because of their love for God. When we do things that God considers as good works by the Holy Spirit, we demonstrate our love for him. His will is done with us or in spite of us. And our love for him is because he first loved us."

St. John's Lutheran Church recently celebrated its 125th anniversary in October of last year. The current building the congregation worships in was dedicated on September 9, 1937.

"My personal message is that the scripture is true, there's no reason to doubt," Malone said. "The church did not develop the doctrine, the doctrine developed the church."

Malone said he does not see the event as a proselyting opportunity, but instead as a service to the community. In his 13 years as Pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, he has not had any problems with other religious groups in the city. The church actually shares its building with multiple other congregations, including several with members originally from Africa.

Thanks to that goodwill, Malone said he expects the "Water of Life" event to continue and serve the community, providing water for the Days of '47 Parade in Salt Lake City into the future.

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