Our History.

Serving God and our communities for over 224 Years!

The movement for a church in the Piney Woods section of Lexington County began in 1793. The earnest desire to establish a Lutheran congregation in this area was evidenced in ventures undertaken in securing land and erecting a church building the following year.
 
The story is told that Peter Schumpert, Ulrich Mayer, Thomas Frick, and others who were walking home from St. John's Church, Pomaria, (ten miles away) on a Sunday afternoon began a discussion of the desire to have a church nearer their homes. All felt the need of a church in the immediate community.

Peter Schumpert found a vacant piece of land containing 112 acres where the church now stands. Application was made for a title and a grant was obtained on May 5, 1794. A church edifice was built during the summer and the congregation was organized and corporated by an act of the State Legislature on December 17, 1794. Regular services were conducted by Rev. Joseph Wallern, who became the first pastor and served the congregation until 1809.
On March 31, 1834, the congregation decided to build a new house of worship. A two-story structure of 35X45 with a gallery in the back and on both sides, was immediately built of sawed lumber. The church was dedicated on November 29, 1835.

The construction of the third church, which actually was only an enlargement of the second, took place during the summer of 1888. An addition of ten feet was built on the front of the church with steps leading to the gallery from either side, and a porch and a small round-shaped annex was added to the east end for the pulpit platform.

Groundbreaking for the fourth--and present--church building was held on July 16, 1925, with the first brick laid on August 3 and the cornerstone service conducted on August 23. Opening services were held on August 15, 1926, and the church was dedicated May 3, 1936.