Our Story
St. John's is:
- A congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.
- A community of character that disciples people of all ages to observe all that the Lord commands.
- A culture that strives to build one another up through repentance and forgiveness - passing God's love to our neighbor.
- A church that strives to be a beacon of hope to the surrounding community, nation, and world.
Our History:
The history of St. John's Lutheran Church is a history of God delivering His precious gifts to His precious people, and then giving them more after that. In November 1856, a small group of Lutherans living in the area of Swan Creek met for a worship service in the home of George Hoerl. By April the following year The Evangelical Lutheran St. John's Congregation of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession was organized with eight founding families. By 1870, the church organized a school, predating the town of Waltz by two years. For 160 years the Lord has used St. John's to bring up over 3000 disciples of Christ who have served in our community, for our country, and to the ends of the earth.
When God gives His gifts, wonderful things happen. The most wonderful thing that happens is that God gives more. We have received from God the forgiveness of sins through the sacraments of Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. We have received the powerful working of the Holy Spirit through Scripture. For 160 years, we have been receiving the means through which God delivers the benefits of Christ's death and resurrection. St. John's has been a location of God's means of grace.
There is life here at St. John's, a vitality that is evident in faces and actions. Forgiveness from God and the assurance of eternal life animates us and motivates us for service and witness. Servants of god and of His Church have been raised here. Professional Church workers have been developed here. Dynamic laypeople who willingly advance the Commission of Christ in their own families and groups have been taught and encouraged here. This is because God is here. His presence is unmistakable. His love and blessings toward us have been overwhelming. This is characteristic of the God who sent Jesus to die for us. He never tires of delivering His gifts.
Now, 160 years after our beginning, each day and at every service we receive what our forefathers and mothers so wanted us to receive. Our tribute to them can be indicated in no better way than a renewed zeal to focus on the cross of our Savior and praise Him for His salvation. Our history has neither been perfect nor without struggle, but it has been blessed by God.
The first class at St. John's Lutheran School in 1870
The school & church in 1900
