Holy Cross Lutheran Church
8945 Veterans Memorial Parkway O Fallon, Missouri 63366
Please join us for Worship!
Sunday 8:00 am, 9:30 am, 11:00 am
Saturday 5:00 pm
Sunday School and Adult Bible Study 9:30 am
phone: view phone(636) 272-4505
fax: view fax(636) 980-9581
website: http://hcross.com
email: agimbel@hcross.com
Pastor Keith Wachter & Pastor Andrew Gimbel
Worship Times
Saturday: 05:00 pm
Sunday: 08:00 am
Sunday: 09:30 am
Sunday: 11:00 am
Sunday School and Adult Bible Study in the Gym: 09:30 am
Church News
The year 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. As part of that celebration, we will be having special services during the year to commemorate specific events in our history.
On May 23rd, Rev. David Anderman, a former vicar at Holy Cross, will be our speaker. May 23rd is between two important dates in our church history. On May 20, 1962, the cornerstone of the first facility was laid, and on May 25, 1975, the first service was held in the current building.
The final anniversary service will be on September 12, 2010— Holy Cross Sunday. For this service, Rev. Matthew Hoehner will be our guest speaker. Also on September 12th, we will have a Celebration Banquet at the Christy Center. As part of our year-long anniversary celebration, we will be making a new pictorial directory in the spring.
Pictures for this directory are scheduled for April 13-19. Kathy Collins has been compiling a history that will be printed and made available to the congregation. The LYF has been selling shirts with the 50th anniversary logo, and the Ladies Guild has ornaments for sale. We hope you will be able to join us for these special events during this next year. If you have ideas or questions about our anniversary, contact Travis Evans in the Church Office.
History of Holy Cross
Beginnings
During the last half of the 1950's there were various discussions and efforts concerning the establishment of a Lutheran congregation in O'Fallon. These included the beginning of a Lutheran women's group in the O'Fallon area. Pastor William Gerike of Immanuel Lutheran in Wentzville was instrumental in providing pastoral guidance to the group. The first service was held on January 3, 1960, in the O'Fallon Fire Hall. After two weeks there the services were moved to the VFW Hall. On July 17, 1960, the congregation chose for itself the name of "Holy Cross Lutheran Church." The charter Sunday of the congregation was September 11, of that year, the Sunday closest to Holy Cross Day (September 14). The new congregation numbered 195 baptized of whom 101 were communicants. We annually observe Holy Cross Sunday on the Sunday nearest September 14 as a reminder of both our message and mission to proclaim the salvation which Christ won for us on the cross. The Rev. Dr. Robert Preus, then a professor at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, was a regular worship leader, preacher and adult Bible class leader until the installation of our first pastor. the Rev. Darwood J. Kesselmayer was installed as the first pastor of Holy Cross Congregation on May 18, 1961. In October of the same year we moved our place of worship from the VFW Hall to the O'Fallon Mortuary.
Building
October 22, 1961, was the joyful occasion of groundbreaking ceremonies for our first church building at 201 Highway 175, the cornerstone for that building was laid on May 20, 1962. The cornerstone is built into the wall inside the entrance to the office wing of our present building. We dedicated our first house of worship on July 8, 1962. That building served as our place for worship and activities for nearly 11 years. During that time the congregation grew from 315 baptized to 821. After Pastor Kesselmayer accepted a call to Pekin, the Rev Gary H. Heide was installed as our pastor on March 9, 1969. The ministry staff was enlarged in 1971 with the installation of a parish worker, Ila Steinke, who served the congregation for almost a year. On July 16, 1972, Deaconess Mary E. Gunderson was installed at Holy Cross Congregation. As God gave us growth the facilities at 201 Highway 175 became inadequate. After much discussion concerning enlarging the facilities or building new facilities, we accepted an offer from Mark Twain Bancshares and sold our building to them in the spring of 1973.
Pilgrimage
This led to our pilgrimage years. On August 19, 1973, we vacated our building. During the following 21 months we worshiped and held Sunday School at the chapel and Facilities of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood. We used the old school building of Williams Memorial Methodist Church for offices, meeting space and kindergarten. On November 21, 1973, several members of our congregation became part of the nucleus of Christ the King Lutheran Church in St. Peters. Pastor Heide accepted a call to Peace Lutheran Church, Selah, WA, at the end of December in 1974.
New Home
With great thanksgiving to God we dedicated our present church building and facilities on May 25, 1975. We praise God that we have these facilities so ideally suited to our worship and other activities. The Rev. Donald A. Christiansen was installed as our pastor on November 29, 1975. After nearly nine years, Sister Mary Gunderson finished her service at Holy Cross in May of 1981. Mr. Rex. Kollmorgen was installed as our Director of Christian Education, Youth and Music on December 20, 1981.
Our 20 rank Reuter-Bosch pipe organ was installed in 1987. It was refurbished and digital components were added after the fire in 1999 so that it now has the equivalent of 72 ranks.
In August of 1989 Mr. Kollmorgen accepted a call to Battle Creek, NE. In August of 1990 Pastor Christiansen retired. The Rev. John A. Hofius was installed as our pastor of February 24, 1991, and the Rev. Donald E. Stock was installed as Assistant Pastor on August 9, 1992. On November 5, 1996 Pastor Hofius was called to the Church Triumphant. Our present Pastor Rev. Keith D. Wachter was installed in July of 1997. Pastor Stock accepted a call to Immanuel Lutheran church inJoplin, MO, in July of 1997. On September 1, 2000, Ann Shields, head of the Department of Sacred Music at Lindenwood University, became our Director of Music. She departed that position September 30, 2001, to care for for her mother. On January 1, 2002, Travis Evans became our Director of Music. A second pastor, Rev. Matthew J. Hoehner, was installed on July 28, 2002. In 2007 Danielle Mizel became our DCE Intern and was formally called to that position the following year. Pastor Matthew Hoehner left Holy Cross in August of 2008 to return to the Seminary in St. Louis. On June 28th, 2009 Holy Cross Ordained/Installed a new associate Pastor, Rev. Andrew Gimbel.
Declaration of Doctrine
Declaration of Doctrine: This congregation accepts all canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the revealed Word of God, verbally inspired, and acknowledges and accepts all the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord (1580), to be a true and genuine exposition of the doctrines of the Bible. These Symbolical Books are: The Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostolic, the Nicene, and the Athanasian), the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the same, the Smalcald Articles, Dr. Martin Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms, and the Formula of Concord. All doctrines of this congregation are to be drawn and proven from the Word of God, and on the basis of the Word of God all disputes and controversies on religion must be administered and settled.
Bible Study Opportunities
I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Psalm 77:12
Adult Bible Class
Sunday mornings, 9:30-10:30 a.m. in the gym
Join Pastor Don Matzat to answer the question:
What is the ministry of Apologetics?
If you go to the Scriptural texts, Christians were called upon to refute error.
The apologists in the early church were required to answer false charges
against Christians. In First Peter, you have the classic verse for apologetics -
always be prepared to give an answer for the reason of the hope that is within
you, yet do it with gentleness. That is an imperative in Greek, and it is not just
applied to pastors and theologians. It is for everybody. It is a command.
Natural Apologetics:
Heaven is not my goal, it is my destination:
Events
Reviews
Best Conservative LCMS Church in the area
Matt from St. Peters, MO - 06/20/2011 18:22:30
Great conservative services, and an excellent Bible study at 9:30AM. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!