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A Brief History of Faith Lutheran Church |
As early as 1933 an attempt was made to organize a congregation in Georgetown. At that time, Zion Lutheran Church in Walburg (nine miles northeast) was the closest Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod parish. Though the effort was abandoned, the seed had been planted.
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Nearly a half-century later, a group of local residents approached the Texas District’s Board of Mission Administration with the prospect of planting a mission in this community. This time, the effort succeeded, by God’s good grace.
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Pastor Gerald Kieschnick was called as mission planter and developer. On Valentine’s Day, 1982 the congregation was officially chartered as a member-parish of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.
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In as little as three years, the church was off subsidy and standing on its own two feet without District assistance. With a loan from the Church Extension Fund, the present sanctuary was erected and worship services began in November, 1985.
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After Pastor Kieschnick accepted a call to the Texas District Office in Austin, Pastor Luther Koepke provided pastoral care during the six-month vacancy. In June, 1986, Pastor John Selle accepted the call to Faith’s pastorate. He served alone in that capacity until Pastor Bill Lowrey accepted the call as Associate Pastor in 1999. Already in 1996, however, Becky Krentz began work on-site as our Director of Christian Education.
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Over the years, God has blessed Faith with continual growth, opportunities for Christian service, and outreach into the community. After the shell of the Activity Center was erected, members, providing hundreds of hours of volunteer labor, completed the interior over the course of two years. It provided much-needed Sunday School/Parish Fellowship space.
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What is now the balcony of the church, seating 90, was formerly four classrooms for the fledgling congregation. This, too, was transformed by member labor.
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In 2000, the Annex was completed with a beautiful nursery, choir practice room, classrooms, and new office space. The current Mail Room and Library just inside the entryway were formerly the offices for the secretary and the pastor. The current AV room was, initially, a meeting room that later became the office of Becky Krentz.
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Pastor Lowrey accepted a call to Arlington, TX in the fall of 2005. Pastor Pohland, the pastor of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Raymondville, Texas, accepted a call to Faith Lutheran, Georgetown and was installed on Sunday, July 23, 2006 as a full-time Associate Pastor. Becky Krentz, our first Director of Christian Education, directs the Educational and Youth Ministries of our congregation. Faith now has an additional Director of Christian Education, Jonathan Loesch, who is in charge of the Children’s and Family Life Ministry of Faith.
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As the congregation continues to grow, there is also the reality of our need to expand. Five more acres were purchased several years ago, so that the campus is now ten acres. A Long Range Planning Committee brought a Master Site Plan before the congregation in July, 2006. As we have grown, we have gone from one, to two, and now three Sunday services. We also have a wonderful menu year-‘round for Christian education for adults. Faith now numbers nearly 1,000 members.
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One highlight to note is that Faith contributes 20% of its General Fund to state-wide, national, and world missions. This is the first check written by the Treasurer each month. In 2007, we were able to provide $185,000 in mission support. Also, for the past ten years, our church has sent teams of youth and adults on mission trips to Mexico, Alaska, Colorado, Wisconsin, South Texas, and to other sites. An adult mission trip to Guyana, and a youth mission trip to North Carolina have been planned for 2008. We continue to state our overall Mission as being: KNOW CHRIST! LIVE CHRIST! MAKE CHRIST KNOWN!
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In the last few years, we have added a Board of Assimilation, a Board of Information Technology, a Board of Parish Fellowship and a Board of Human Care. God is good in affording Faith the opportunity to touch of lives of God’s people in many different ways. The harvest here is ripe, as statistics have revealed that 60% of our community is unchurched.
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Faith’s people earnestly seek to be a warm, inviting, care-giving fellowship of Christians! God has truly smiled upon this fellowship of believers. As new chapters continually are written in the history of this congregation, we must always remember that history is HIS STORY! Faith celebrated its 25th Anniversary on Valentine’s Day – February 14, 2007.
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To see construction photos, and a recollection of the first few years, click here. |
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