From the Friedens History Room; written before 1939, author unknown
Lutheran settlements appeared along the Haw River from 1740 to 1745; the Yadkin River settlements appeared about the same time. The five "mother churches" (The five oldest Lutheran churches in NC are: Friedens and Lows in Guilford County; Zion or Organ Church, Rowan County; St. John's in Salisbury, Rowan County; and St. John's Church in Cabarrus County) of the Lutherans in North Carolina are in these two sections which are separated by a distance of about fifty miles. The "great road from Pennsylvania" had two branches, one leading into the Haw River region, the other into the Yadkin River region; and over these two branches The Lutherans entered the state.
Friedens Church is located about four miles from the confluence of the Reedy Fork stream with Haw River, two miles west of the present town of Gibsonville. Its original name was Friedens-kirche, which means Church of Peace. The word "Friedens" is the genitive of "der Friede", which means peace. (The word is frequent in compounds, such as "Friedensfurst" which means Prince of Peace.) The second part of Friedens-kirche -- "kirche" which means church. This was eventually dropped, and the name took an its English (and present) form "Friedens Church".
This entire region for miles around was settled by the Lutherans, and the church was in the center of a large early Lutheran community. While the earliest records are lost, it is believed that the first crude building was erected as early as 1744, but the date is not clear. Because a re-organization took place in 1771 and a second house was built at that time, the later 1771 date has often been used as the first date for Friedens; however, if any Lutheran churches in the state are to be dated from 1745, then Friedens should be given the earlier date.
The second house stood until 1869 when the present handsome brick building was erected to which an annex of eight rooms was added in 1928. Both the first and the second buildings stood in what is now the older part of the cemetery (marked by a monument made of the original church steps). The second house of 1771 was two stories, 45 x 60 feet , with galleries on three sides, and an old-fashioned high pulpit with sounding board behind the speaker. It was a fine structure for its day. In 1790 an outdoor pavilion was 'built for holding camp-meetings". The present church was built on additional land purchased in 1854 for this purpose, and the original church location was included in the cemetery grounds.
(PRB note: Author and date of this article are unknown; however, since it makes no mention of the 1939 fire, but does mention "the present handsome brick building was erected to which an annex of eight rooms was added in 1928" it is assumed to have been written prior to 1939.)