Our Roots...
- Our congregation dates back to 1950, when, in obedience to God’s command our pastor faithfully
testified to his flock, then a member congregation of the Missouri Synod, about the creeping
heterodoxy in that church body and laid numerous memorials of official protest before its convention,
representing the combined effort of a considerable number of concerned pastors and laymen.
Heedless of warnings from synodical officials to “keep quiet” and to stop “making trouble” in the
synod, he was unscripturally deposed from his pastorate in November, 1951, in a carefully
orchestrated plot secretly hatched by a group of local members and officials of the Northern Illinois
District. Nevertheless a faithful remnant of the congregation still recognized the pastor’s call to be
valid before God and reorganized itself as our present congregation, taking as its name the blessed
bond which they enjoyed together in the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). The fledgling church
immediately joined the Orthodox Lutheran Conference of like-minded congregations, co-founded by
our pastor at that time, the parent organization from which our present fellowship of churches, the
Concordia Lutheran Conference, sprang in 1955. (See article on Our Fellowship below.)
- From November, 1951 until April, 1964 the congregation met for worship services and Bible classes
in temporary facilities --initially in the homes of members and then in the parsonage building erected
in the summer of 1952, where a parochial school of eight grades was also maintained until 1956. In
the fall of 1963, the congregation, still a small but forward-looking flock, embarked upon the
ambitious project of erecting a permanent church building on its acreage acquired in 1952. It was
dedicated on April 4, 1964, and from 1969 to 1984 was home to the Concordia Theological
Seminary of our Conference. It still serves as our congregation’s sanctuary. Then in 1990, with the
pressing need for Christian education and fellowship facilities making modest expansion of the
building almost a necessity, the congregation constructed an addition with Sunday School
classrooms, meeting rooms, washrooms, a large fellowship hall, and a combination church office and
pastor’s study over a full basement for future finishing. This addition was dedicated in September,
1991.
- In 1987, just one year after our present pastor was called to replace his father, who had retired from
the ministry in 1986, another congregation of our fellowship suddenly lost its pastor of many years
and was unable to find and call a replacement. Peace found itself with a “remote contingent” of dear
brethren in Midland, Michigan, in need of a faithful shepherd. While our efforts there were at first
viewed as a temporary measure in an emergency situation, the group soon joined our congregation
and established a regular schedule of services and classes of instruction for all ages. Early In 2006,
after eighteen years of bi-weekly trips to Midland on the part of our Pastor and the diligent efforts our
Michigan contingent to reach out to the community, but with dwindling attendance at our Midland
chapel, the members there opted to transfer their membership to a closer congregation of our
fellowship; and our operation in Midland closed in January of that year.