Redeemer Lutheran Church Sanctuary and Fellowship Center |
Family Life Center |
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On February 4, 1951, Pastor George Harms conducted the first services for a group of Lutherans who lived in the Mountain Home area. The first meetings were in homes and then later in a funeral home and the basement of the Presbyterian Church. In 1959 the name Redeemer Lutheran Church was chosen. When Pastor Harms became ill, the church group turned to Concordia Seminary to send students to hold services. From 1961 to 1968 Rev. E. Knoernschild served both Mountain Home and Harrison churches. At that time there were about 120 communicants. Later Pastor Erhard Roth became the first full time pastor of Redeemer. The church purchased land which eventually amounted to four acres. A new church building was planned. On November 12, 1973, the first church building was dedicated for the growing congregation of Redeemer. In November of 1973 Rev. Eldon Winker of Venedy, Illinois, was installed to serve primarily in the area of education and youth. Later in that year a fire caused by lightening struck the Fellowship Center and destroyed it, the library, and the office. However, by April of 1974 new facilities were ready for use. After Pastor Roth's retirement in February, 1980, Pastor Elvin Riemer assumed duties as Interim Pastor. In December of that year Rev Kenneth Lampe of Zion Lutheran Church, Ulm, AR, was called to serve as pastor. A decade later in 1990 an Associate Pastor was installed, Pastor Kenneth Taglauer and Redeemer had two full times pastors. By 1995 the expansion of
the membership and ministries had grown to the point that the
congregation asked Mr. Alex Pavlenko, a church growth specialist from
St. Louis, to come to Redeemer to help with a five-year plan in order to
carry out its mission statement: "to follow Christ by sharing the Gospel,
serving people, and loving one another." This eventually lead to
the expansion of the facilities to the new Family Life Center. In 1998 Pathway Ministries of Escondido, CA, was brought to Redeemer to help institute a program of spiritual renewal and stewardship growth. This campaign is now called Hearts Ablaze. This program tries to involve everyone in the church into a closer fellowship with each other, and the program offers a way to reduce the debt for the building programs. In August 2003, Pastor Lampe was called to be president of the Mid-South District Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in Memphis, Tennessee. At the present time the congregation is in the call process to find a new Senior Pastor. In June 2007, Pastor David Gadbaw, who had been pastor at Lutheran Church of the Lakes in Addison Michigan for seventeen years, was called to serve at Redeemer. In Nov 2007, Pastor Kenneth Taglauer, who had been associate Pastor since 1990, retired. He is still living in the Mountain Home area. June 22, 2008, Vicar John Easterling was installed for his service at Redeemer.
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