The Story of Peace

We started this thing from an idea – an idea that God would have us plant a new Lutheran congregation in the west part of O’Fallon to follow the growth of the County toward Lake St. Louis and Wentzville. He was leading us to be intentionally missional, to reach out to our friends and neighbors in the name of Jesus. He was leading us to become an important and critical part of this community. He was leading us to be the place where people can come to grow in faith, family, and friendship. He was leading us not to become another church of introspective, self-serving, Lutheran Christians. He was leading us to look outwards, to care for the needs of the community, to care for the needs of one another…a “one another” that is continually expanding and growing as we introduce (or reintroduce) others to Christ and make disciples of all neighborhoods.

Three congregations (Chapel of the Cross, St. Peters; Messiah, Weldon Spring; and Holy Cross, O’Fallon) partnered together to help get this new mission congregation under way. Several months of planning and discussing finally culminated in a launch.

On September 11, 2005, we held our first worship service in the Hilton Garden Inn conference room in O’Fallon. We had 144 people attend. Many were well-wishers from nearby congregations. Some came with an active interest. Although we had no pastor we began to build relationships with one another. We began to discover who God, in His wisdom, had collected to be the start of this new congregation. We began to love one another. We began to be friends. That’s a feature of this congregation that we have learned to value…our friendliness. We understand how hard it is for someone to decide to come check this church out. We hope that they will be warmly greeted and feel comfortable and walk away thinking, “I think my family and I could really fit in here!”

Early in 2006, as we began to meet new families, we came to the realization that a small hotel conference room just wasn’t an ideal place to offer a family-centered ministry. God led us to the facility we would soon call our new home. Located in the heart of WingHaven, we found a 5,100 sq. ft. “spec building.” It was a brand new white box (empty shell) just waiting for someone to finish it and move in. We bought the building in the Fall of 2006 and hired a contractor to make our vision for the facility come to life. There was a brand new sanctuary with capacity to worship almost 200 and an educational/administrative wing with classrooms, a common gathering place, a reception area, a Pastor’s office, and even a small kitchen. We moved in on Thursday, April 5, 2007, and celebrated Maundy Thursday Services that night.

During the summer of 2007, we had a chance to meet a lot of new friends who have come to visit us. We also started to get to know the community as we serve through various servant and outreach projects. During the summer of 2006, we averaged about 45-50 in weekly worship. During the summer of 2007, though, we grew to 75 each Sunday. Thankfully, God has a plan far greater than ours and we’re continuing to reach people who have no meaningful connection with a family of faith.

Of course connecting all people to Christ and a church family is important to us. The most exciting stories, though, are about those families who come to us who are just meeting Jesus for the first time – or getting reunited with Him after a long “time away”. When they hear the good news of Jesus’ love for them and their children it’s fun to see their faces and their hearts light up with the love of Christ. There is no more exciting scene in all of life to announce life changing good news to them by introducing them to their Savior and welcoming them to the life-giving waters of Holy Baptism. It doesn’t get any better than that!

If God is calling you to make a difference for Christ in this community, won’t you consider joining us at Peace Lutheran? Come check us out this Sunday. Our worship service begins at 10:15 a.m. The educational hour runs from 9-10 am.