ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY
We will celebrate our 74th anniversary as a congregation on Sunday, July 18 at our 10am church worship service.
Following the service at 1:30pm, we will hold a picnic at St. Clair Brooks Park on Butler Rd. We have reserved a beautifully shaded shelter with picnic
tables. If you wish to bring lawn chairs, please feel free to do so. Everyone is asked to bring a picnic lunch for yourself and your family. Beverages and dessert will be provided.
Come to enjoy some fun, fellowship, and to celebrate our anniversary. There will also be a “hymn sing”, games, and other activities.
NOTE: We are looking for a few people to help with set up and others to help with cleanup.
Please contact Mike and Karen Moffit (540.752.1837) for more information.
Directions to Shelter: After entering the park, bear left and proceed around the ball fields. The shelter will be on the left with parking in front of
the shelter. VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS
A LOOK BACK AT OUR HISTORY
Christ Lutheran Church is a congregation with a powerful, Spirit-filled story that is rooted in the community of Fredericksburg and being the community of the church. As we celebrate our 74th anniversary as a congregation, we give thanks that we are a congregation “planted by streams of living water” (Jeremiah 17:8) through our baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
From its very beginning in 1947, even before it was an official congregation, a part-time mission developer, the Rev. J. Glenn Boliek, gathered with a small group of worshippers in a downtown community hall for worship and began planting seeds that grew into what is today a thriving ministry. Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized on July 20, 1947 under Rev. Boliek’s leadership. In 1948, under the leadership of the Rev. C. M. Huddle, three lots in College Heights were purchased. Later that year, ground was broken to build the first sanctuary and parsonage, and our first full-time pastor, the Rev. W. Leigh Bell was called. Rev. Bell served from 1948 until 1959. On Pentecost Sunday, the parsonage was dedicated and the original sanctuary that is now the Welcome Hall was dedicated on November 11, 1951.
The dedication of ministry space was followed by a season of healthy growth and Christ Lutheran Church became a self-supporting congregation in 1961 and was served by the Rev. Preston Dusman from 1960 until 1966. The Rev. C. Frederick Eichner served as pastor from 1966 until 1973. The 1960s marked a time of expansion in the life of the congregation. It was a well-established worshipping community in the Fredericksburg area and had outgrown the original sanctuary; and on July 18, 1971, the current sanctuary was completed and dedicated.
The Rev. James G. Cobb served the congregation from 1974 until 1981. Sensing God calling the congregation to serve the community’s children, a preschool was established in 1977 that still nurtures three– and four-year olds today. In 1979, arrangements were made for the pastor to purchase his own home, and the parsonage was converted into a parish house with church offices and classrooms.
In July 1981, the Rev. Richard M. Carbaugh was installed. Under Rev. Carbaugh’s leadership, a large building expansion in the late 1980s marked yet another season of abundant harvest as the church increased its space in order to support a growing Sunday School program, music program, and welcome outside organizations to use its space. In December 1989, the Christian Education wing was dedicated.
By the 50th anniversary of the congregation, the church acted in faith to call its first Associate Pastor, the Rev. David C. Derrick, who was ordained and installed at Christ Lutheran and served from 1997 to early 2000. The Rev. Stephen J. Bohannon served as the Associate Pastor from September 2001 until April 2004. Pastor Laura Sinche was ordained and installed as Associate Pastor from April 2005 until April 2009. Christ Lutheran then became a teaching parish and internship site for seminarians preparing to be pastors. Interns who served Christ Lutheran include: Katharina Johnson 2010—2011; Ruth Moberg Foster 2011—2012 and Anne Jones 2012—2013. Following her internship Anne was called to serve as our second pastor. Pastor Anne was ordained and installed at Christ Lutheran on November 9, 2013.
In 2008, the congregation undertook a building fund campaign in order to improve accessibility and enhance our facility for ministry. This effort began by making our sanctuary more accessible and by renovating the original chapel space into our new Welcome Hall. The old parsonage/office space was taken down to make way for a new facility to house the preschool rooms, a food pantry, and a more functional office space. By tying all our facilities together and with such improvements as a new elevator, accessibility is greatly enhanced. The new $1.5 million addition was completed in 2014. Our new building provides us with a new and larger food pantry that serves our planning district, greater accessibility for the entire building, and new office spaces for our pastors and staff.
As the congregation has expanded it physical footprint, its footprint in the Fredericksburg community has grown through its community partnerships with St. George Episcopal Church and Trinity Episcopal Church, its membership and collaborative ministry as a Micah Ecumenical Ministry Church, partnership with the school districts to feed hungry children, a variety of other outreach ministries that touch the local and global communities, and a joint Lutheran Episcopal Campus Ministry for students of Germanna Community College and the University of Mary Washington.
In July 2017, the Rev. Richard M. Carbaugh retired after 36 years of ministry with this congregation. A service of thanksgiving and farewell was held and a stained-glass window depicting Jesus the Good Shepherd was dedicated in thanksgiving for Pastor Carbaugh’s years of faithful ministry. From September 2017 through January 2019, the Rev. Eric J. Moehring served as Interim Pastor along with Pastor Anne. In December 2017, Pastor Anne Jones Martin accepted a new call to the congregation and was installed as lead pastor on January 28, 2018. The Rev. David P. Casey began serving as the Young Adult Missioner in August 2018.
The Rev. Louis A Florio was installed as Associate Pastor on February 17, 2019.
Christ Lutheran is blessed to be “a tree planted by living water” (Jeremiah 17:8) through our baptismal identity and through over 74 years of ministry as a congregation. We celebrate members and guests of this congregation who can share stories of how Christ Lutheran has grown as a tree, both in scale and mission, and bore many good fruits over the seasons of its life. We look with faith and hope for how God is calling us to make a loving difference in Jesus’ name in this year and in the years to come!