We will be featuring blogs from members of Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church, Richmond Hill, GA, and Epiphany Lutheran Church, Collierville, TN, this week and next. We are excited that both of these mission congregations will be organizing as official congregations of the ELCA at this year's Southeastern Synod Assembly. We hope you enjoy learning more about them as we prepare to celebrate with them!
The life and ministry of Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church
has truly been a grace odyssey from the time of its formation in 2001! God
stirred within the hearts of people in coastal Georgia the desire for a new
ELCA congregation in Richmond Hill. This grassroots effort, led by the Holy
Spirit, included the selection of the name “Spirit of Peace” during the fall of
2001. During a time of national anxiety, anger, and alarm, “Spirit of Peace”
began to embody for the community our living hope in Christ.
Weekly worship began in February 2002, initially in the
sanctuary of the local Episcopal Church, then in the chapel of a funeral home.
It was a great location – in the dead center of town! Necessity spurred on
creativity as other community facilities and family homes were used for
fellowship dinners, Confirmation classes, Bible studies, and Youth gatherings.
Richmond Hill is a highly mobile community and is home
for numerous military families [Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Air Field are 30 minutes away]
as well as persons who work in Savannah. For those who are active military,
Spirit of Peace has provided spiritual support and encouragement, especially
during times of deployment and field training. For life-long Lutherans, Spirit
of Peace has been a welcomed new church home. And for the many people who had
been church homeless for years, Spirit of Peace has brought the grace of God
and the joy of Jesus into their lives in transformational ways.
In 2008 a capital campaign entitled “Raising Spirit
Together” launched the congregation toward ambitious goals, including the
building of our first church home. Even as the Great Recession impacted our
nation, God’s great grace was upon Spirit of Peace. The campaign was a great
success, spiritually and financially. The following year, Spirit of Peace
received a free gift of four acres of land in a great location – for real! Soon
we would adopt a constitution, elect Council members, create a living charter,
and secure a construction loan. With gratitude to God, we’ve consistently
tithed 10% to mission support for the ELCA.
Now we are home at last - Bishop Gordy properly dedicated
our facility to the glory of God on November 13, 2011 – and we will soon
officially be what we know in our hearts we already are: a congregation of the
Southeastern Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. God’s grace
has led us safe thus far; and now we see that God, who helped us build a new
church home, is also building among us a new church with new people who are
being built together like living stones into a spiritual house!
Thank you for listening to our story – you will see and
hear more on June 2nd in Atlanta at Synod Assembly!
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