About Us

Preamble

The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, gives to His disciples the gifts of Word and Sacraments through which all people may come to a knowledge of God and faith in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Responding in love as stewards of God's gifts at Zion, we intend with God's help to baptize and to teach in His Name as our Lord Himself commands (Matthew 28:18-20), within our congregation, to our Laramie community, and to the world as God gives us the resources to do so.

Mission Statement

Zion exists to faithfully baptize and teach until the Lord's return.

Our History

In the summer of 1926, a somewhat elderly veteran pastor moved north from Colorado to Laramie, Wyoming. There he found that the only Lutheran denomination serving the town for the past forty years represented the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, a body which exhibited Reformed influence and some laxity in both doctrine and practice.

Determined to establish an orthodox group of Lutherans, the pastor, the Reverend Reini, began the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Reini, a conservative Norwegian Synod pastor and a graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, thus planted the roots of what was to become Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

During the first year worship services of this mission gathering were held in private homes, and these services were conducted in Norwegian and English. Some fifteen contributors gave $91 that year for the running expenses of the fledgling congregation.

Candidates for shepherd of the new flock were provided by the Mission Board of the Southern Nebraska District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LC-MS). Following Pastor Reini were Pastor Skagen and Pastoral Candidate Luebke.

Pastor Reini, although he subsequently returned to Colorado, kept an active interest in the Laramie group. In 1932, maintaining that the Norwegian Synod and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod were on in doctrine and practice, he urged all members henceforth to look to the LC-MS for religious service.

During those early years as a mission congregation, services were held in a variety of locations. Moving from private homes, the services were at first held at the North Star Hall, now Vasa Hall, on South Third Street. For a brief time St. Paul’s Evangelical Church (United Church of Christ) was rented for afternoon services. In 1933 Mrs. Andrew Johnson, 913 South Fourth Street, offered the use of her home. Larger quarters were found by renting the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 408 Fremont Avenue.

On May 2, 1934, the Laramie Lutheran Mission took an historic step forward. According to church records, Candidate Luebke called a special meeting that day, at which he "pointed out that if the group wanted to march forward and make greater progress, it would be to its advantage to organize into a congregation." Open discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the move resulted in a resolution to organize the group as a congregation. The motion passed. In August 1939 the congregation was received into membership of the LC-MS.

On July 22, 1934, Candidate Luebke was ordained and installed as the first pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. During the five years Pastor Luebke served Zion, services were conducted mostly on the second floor of the Wyoming Creamery. In 1937 a house at the corner of 5th Street and Clark was purchased for $2,500 and remodeled into a chapel and parsonage. Zion grew to 65 souls, with 31 communicant members.

In 1950 Zion sold its property at 5th and Clark and relocated to its present site on the corner of 19th and Garfield. With the generous assistance of the Southern Nebraska District, a church and parsonage were erected. The dedication of the building to the glory of God was on October 21, 1952.

Zion served as both worship center for its congregation and as a student center for LC-MS students attending the University of Wyoming. In 1957 the Northern and Southern Nebraska Districts purchased the former Phi Delta Theta Fraternity House at 1309 Grand Avenue to serve as a center for the Gamma Chi chapter of Gamma Delta, the Lutheran Student organization of the LC-MS. Ultimately, St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church and Campus Center was formed.

During the years of 1965-71 a 520-pipe Walcker organ was purchased and installed. In addition, the parsonage was converted into classrooms, offices and a fellowship room.

As of 1999 Zion’s membership was at 336 baptized and 243 communicants. With the growth in membership, available space for worship, education and fellowship had been filled. In addition, the lack of adequate parking and handicapped accessible bathrooms began the discussion of some day constructing a new church facility. In the spring of 1999 Zion embarked on a major stewardship emphasis, and on June 15, 1999, Zion purchased 4.11 acres at the corner of 30th Street and Reynolds.

As of 2008, Zion has embarked on it's second stewardship emphasis as it begins to raise money to build its new facility.

God continues to bless Zion through His Word and His gifts of baptism, the forgiveness of sins and His Son’s body and blood in His Holy Supper. Nourished and strengthened in such a way, Zion presses on into a new century in, with and under the grace of God.

The Pastors of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church - LCMS

Zion exists to faithfully baptize and teach until the Lord's return.
Last updated on February 1, 2008.