Our original church

The first stage of our history goes back into the 1920’s when “Redeemer” was formed by a faithful few.  They met in the Village Hall until the 1930’s when a small white-framed building was erected.  This mission church held its own until 1941 and the out-break of World War II.  Several men joined the armed services and the rest closed the doors and traveled to Grand Rapids to worship at First Lutheran.In 1970 the church was reorganized as services were held in the Cohasset School until the old building could be remodeled.The newly formed congregation was called Our Redeemer and was served out of First Lutheran until 1973 when Pastor William C. Zeige was assigned from the St. Louis Seminary and officially joined the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod on April 19, 1974.  A dual parish was formed with Trinity of Hill City and this partnership lasted 13 ½ years.  At this time full-time pastoral ministry was required and a peaceful parting of the partnership took place, with Pastor Zeige staying at Our Redeemer.

Our 2nd church

These were years of growth in spirit and in numbers.  We outgrew the building and moved into our newly erected “Morton” building on the back of the same plot.  The building was dedicated on October 11, 1981.  We soon found ourselves land-locked and outgrowing this building and this site.We were able to buy 20 acres of land at our present site and 23 more acres were gifted to the church.

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
Work began on a complete relocation in the fall of 1995 and we moved into a beautiful structure on August 4, 1996.  Our fellowship hall was added by the work of our own hands and the help of the Holy Spirit in 1999.  The last piece of the puzzle for space was added as we constructed a 120′ x 56′ education wing with two floors which was dedicated on April 10, 2005.This history charts the unfolding of a physical building process, but this is only a part of the story.  Without the gathering of more and more believers coming to worship and to be equipped for ministry these building stages would never have been needed.  Truly the Lord has blessed us and is using our ministry together to extend His kingdom.We have been blessed with a faithful Director of Christian Education in Joel Zander who served us well for six years.  During his time among us we took a step forward to add a preschool.

Our Redeemer’s Little Lambs is under the creative and caring hands of Krystine Jurvelin, director and lead teacher, and Robyn Fox, teacher, Jodi Martin and Grace Roy, our preschool assistants.

These are exciting and challenging times to be in mission for our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are always looking for new people to share the gospel of Jesus with.  Won’t you join us today?

Our Redeemer Servants of the Lord

  • 1970- June 1973                Edmund Bentrup, Paul Nehrig, Vicar Fred Watson
  • July 1973 – Sept 2011        Pastor William C. Zeige
  • Aug 1986 – Jan 1987         Vicar Kurt Boyer
  • Aug 1995 – July 1996        D.C.E. (Intern) Danielle (Prudy) Koehler
  • Aug 1996 – July 1997        D.C.E. (Intern) Deb Langen
  • Aug 1997 – July 1998        D.C.E. (Intern) Deb Marks
  • Aug 1998 – July 1999        D.C.E. (Intern) Joel Zander
  • July 2000 – Sept 2006       D.C.E. Joel Zander
  • July 2007 – Aug 2014        Pastor Chris Gorshe
  • Oct 2013 – present            D.C.E.  Tim Stroming
  • Aug 2014 – Jan 2016         Vacancy Pastor William C. Zeige
  • Jan 2016 – present            Pastor Mark Peske