All Saints Lutheran to hold final service Sunday

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By BOB REEVES/Lincoln Journal Star

All Saints Lutheran Church, at 8251 Pioneers Blvd., will hold is final worship service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

Struggling with a dwindling membership, the congregation voted in May to close the church. 

Former members and others who have attended the church since it was organized in 1976 are invited, said Margaret Vogt, a current member and former church secretary.  The service will include a decommissioning ceremony.

The church began with nine families from several different churches who wanted to form a new congregation in southeast Lincoln, said Ken Schmidt. He and his wife, Delta, were among the founding members.

The congregation met at Union College until the first phase of the present building was completed in 1981. It began as a church of the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, one of three groups that joined to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1989.

Over the years, the membership grew to a high of nearly 250, but in recent months attendance has dropped to about 25 people per Sunday.

One of the strong points of the church, Schmidt said, was its family atmosphere and friendliness to newcomers. “We had a lot of families with children. One of the real joys was watching children grow up in the church and become contributing members.”

Another member, Otto Schultz, has written a brief history of the church which he will present at the closing worship service.

The church had three full-time pastors over the years: the Rev. Jim Couser from 1976 to 1987, the Rev. Jim Melang from 1987 to 1997, and the Rev. Leon Rosenthal from 1998 to 2005. An interim pastor, the Rev. Dave Larson, served from 2005 to last summer. Recently a pastoral intern, Tobi White, served the church under the direction of the Rev. Lowell Hennigs of Our Saviour Lutheran Church.

Construction of the present building was made possible through a gift of the down payment on the property at 82nd and Pioneers by First Lutheran Church of Omaha, Schultz said. An educational wing and elevator to make the building handicapped accessible were added in 1995.

“While the congregation struggled financially from time to time, as most congregations do, the fact is that there has always been a culture of strong giving in this church,” Schultz wrote.

The church weathered some  controversies — a discussion of the appropriate place for gay people in the church after two active church members “came out” in the early 1980s, and a debate on how to teach Sunday school and confirmation classes in the 1990s. 

In recent years, the congregation became polarized over Rosenthal’s style of ministry, which led to the church losing half of its membership and three-quarters of its active families, Schultz reported.

He compared the closing of the church to biblical stories about the impact of Jesus’ resurrection  on his followers. “Our story today is a story of the death of All Saints and the resurrection of those saints into a new life in churches throughout our community,” he wrote.

Over the years, the congregation had a strong outreach ministry, giving money and volunteer time to such projects as the Food Pantry, a prison ministry and the CROP Walk for hunger, Schmidt said. 

The church building and land, with an estimated value of about $700,000, will revert to the Nebraska Synod of the ELCA. The Synod Council, a statewide body elected by churches throughout the synod, will decide whether to sell the property or use it for another Lutheran church or ministry, said the Rev. Lee Griess, assistant to Nebraska ELCA Bishop David deFreese.

Other property, such as the pipe organ, piano, computers and other items,  will either be sold or given to other churches, Schmidt said. An altar, lectern and baptismal font from the church were given to Followers of Christ ministry at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

“The demise of All Saints is painful, there’s no question about that,” he said.  “A lot of people put a lot of sweat and tears into this church.  But we have to move on.”

After Sunday, the remaining members of the church will have to find new church homes, he said. Schmidt said he and his wife plan to visit a number of other churches before making a decision about which to join.

In thinking about the final service, Schmidt recalled the words that are used to close every worship service: “Go in peace, serve the Lord.”

Reach Bob Reeves at 473-7212 or breeves@journalstar.com.