The History of Immanuel Lutheran Church

Memphis, Tennessee

1924-2024

“Faithful to All Generations”

Immanuel Lutheran Church was “born” in 1924; Trinity Lutheran Church (downtown) is our mother church. Before we recount Immanuel’s history, it is appropriate to remember our roots and reflect on God’s faithfulness to all generations.

The 1830s was a time when German Lutherans left their homeland for religious freedom. They arrived in the United States, settling along the eastern coast and moving westward. By 1847, they established The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Eight years later, “The German Evangelical Trinity Lutheran Church of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of Memphis, State of Tennessee” (more simply known as “The German Church”) was born. By God’s grace, the church survived two yellow fever epidemics in the 1870s. Proud of their heritage and in order to preserve their German culture and customs, Trinity maintained a parochial school until 1912.

“Because World War I hastened the integration of German-speaking people into American society, Trinity lost much of its ethnic profile. Its growth began to come largely from within the community... In 1909, with the city expanding, need for a local Lutheran Church had arisen in South Memphis… Trinity’s first daughter congregation, The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, was organized by families in the Third Street and McLemore Avenue area… Another daughter congregation, Immanuel, was formed in 1924 in the Highland Heights area. Some of Trinity’s ablest members were involved, and the mother church was supportive in the efforts to establish both a church and a school.” (Trinity’s 150th Anniversary brochure)

Immanuel means God with Us. One hundred years ago, a small group of people set out to start a Lutheran church in “East Memphis”, and God was indeed with them.

That group of people included:

⦁ Mrs. Matilda Anderton

⦁ Mr. and Mrs. John Conrad Blatt and sons John William and Elmer

⦁ Mrs. Anne Marie Sampson Buck

⦁ Hulda and Louie Dettwiller

⦁ Walter Dettwiller

⦁ Minnie Wendt Gotthard

⦁ Fred, Louisa, and Willie Haefker

⦁ Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Hankey

⦁ Frank and Robert Lawrence

⦁ Mrs. K. Lawrence

⦁ Mrs. William G. Paschal

⦁ George and William Paschal

⦁ Max Raupp

⦁ Fred Raupp

⦁ Mrs. Annie Reinhardt and Edna and Louise

⦁ Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Reinhardt

⦁ Mr. and Mrs. C. Sampson and Hilda

⦁ Mrs. Lillian Hankey Smith

⦁ Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wendt and George

⦁ Mr. and Mrs. Otto Zuberbuhler

Thanksgiving has always had a two-fold meaning for the members of Immanuel. Not only has it been our day for national Thanksgiving, but it also has been a day prominent in the history of Immanuel. It was Thanksgiving time in 1924 when Immanuel Lutheran Church was organized in Highland Heights, then a suburb of Memphis. Organizational meetings were held in the Reinhardt family home. The first worship service was held on Sunday afternoon, November 24, 1924, at the Highland Heights Presbyterian Church at Holmes and Summer Avenue. (That church is still in existence and has relocated on Highway 64.) When afternoon services proved unsatisfactory, the services were held at Sampson Cleaners, an establishment owned by charter members. The cleaners was located on Summer Avenue between Holmes and National. Later, services were held in the rented home of our first pastor, Reverend Dvorovy, on Faxon Avenue next door to the Reinhardt home. Both homes were used for Sunday school.

On October 2, 1925, the cornerstone of the first church was laid; and again at Thanksgiving time, in 1925, the young congregation dedicated its new house of worship at the corner of Faxon and Highland. Reverend Dvorovy served as pastor until January 1927 when Reverend Harold Dueker became our pastor.

Under the leadership of Reverend Dueker, until late 1944, the little group grew as did the property of the congregation. The parsonage was built next door to the church, and it was dedicated July 27, 1930. (Later, the home was used by the Reimold family during the years that John Reimold was principal of the school until the Reimolds purchased their own home. Some of Immanuel’s vicars used this house, and the Hmong refugees who were sponsored by the church also lived there.) The little church was redecorated in 1931 and remodeled in 1937 by changing the entrance and adding the annex when Highland Avenue was widened. The Dedicatory Service program, dated September 26, 1937, points out that the church was expanded to accommodate a larger congregation.

Reverend Everett Grese served as our pastor from January 1945 until the summer of 1961. It was under his leadership that the Christian day school began, various adjacent tracts of land purchased, the school built on Highland Street, the parsonage remodeled, and the new sanctuary erected. In the post-WWII years, both the church and school enjoyed rapid growth.

In 1961, Reverend Grese accepted a Call to Chattanooga, Tennessee. During a long vacancy, our congregation was served by Reverend W. C. Krueger, Memphis Institutional Chaplain. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas season of 1961, we had no pastor to call our own for it wasn’t until January 1962 that Reverend Gordon Gross accepted the Call to Immanuel. Pastor Gross was installed on March 4, 1962. Under his leadership and God’s constant blessing, our congregation continued to grow both in its spiritual dimensions and its physical size. A new addition of office and Sunday school space was added to the sanctuary, and the Raleigh-LaGrange property was purchased. Thanksgiving Day 1968 was marked by the burning of the mortgage on the Highland Street church. It should be noted that the mortgage was a 15-year mortgage that was burned after only 13 years. Also, at that service a new building committee was appointed to make plans for expanding the Highland Street church and building a new school on the Raleigh-LaGrange site.

Early in 1971, Pastor Gross accepted a Call to be student chaplain at Concordia Teacher’s College in Seward, Nebraska. On June 13, 1971, Reverend Ross Schuler was installed as our new pastor. He served us until November 3, 1974, when he was led to resign his ministry and enter into the field of business. Under his leadership, our new school was dedicated and the Highland Street school re-opened in order to accommodate one teacher per grade. Reverend Schuler was also instrumental in surveying and working in the Raleigh-LaGrange area in the hope of our congregation being of special service to the people in that community.

On August 10, 1975, Reverend Al Boysen was installed as the sixth pastor of Immanuel. Between 1978 and 1983, five vicars served under him: Rick Armstrong, Lane Bridges, Jon Bauer, Dennis Bartels and Russ Koen. Bill Siegrist served as Director of Christian Nurture from 1983-1984. Sunday school and worship services began at the school on Raleigh-LaGrange Road on January 7, 1979, and from then until 1990, Pastor Boysen officiated for services at both Immanuel locations.

During this time, the school property was further developed. Additional classrooms and the Family Life Center (gym) were dedicated in January 1982. The Pastor’s and Church Offices as well as an Activities Room (current library and classroom) were dedicated in December 1990 to facilitate the consolidation of Immanuel’s ministry at the Raleigh LaGrange site. The last service was held at the Highland location on December 30, 1990. After that, services were held in the Family Life Center from January 6, 1991, until the new sanctuary was dedicated on November 24, 1996. Also during Pastor Boysen’s time, we started a contemporary worship service. The first Hosanna service was held on Easter 1994 and is still going strong today.

Reverend Michael Bingenheimer was installed as Associate Pastor on September 11, 1994. When Pastor Boysen retired in 1998, Pastor Bingenheimer became the senior pastor. He focused on outreach and discipleship for growing the Kingdom of God, and Pastors Lonnie Jacobsen and Ronald Halamka, as well as DCE Clint Reynolds, worked with him to accomplish that work. In 2004, Pastor Bingenheimer accepted a call to Ascension Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas, where he still serves.

Pastor Ron Halamka, who had retired from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Memphis, was called to serve as our Minister of Pastoral Care in 1999 until he re-retired in 2004. He was instrumental in training Immanuel’s first Stephen Ministers.

Pastor Lonnie Jacobsen was ordained and installed as our Pastor of Mission and Outreach on July 30, 2000. He was tasked with developing a core group of Immanuel members to plant a church in Arlington, TN. Christ Lutheran had its first services in their building on Easter 2002; Pastor Jacobsen served as Christ’s pastor until 2009. The congregation closed on Palm Sunday 2014.

From May 2001 to September 2004, Clint Reynolds served as our Director of Christian Education. His work focused on middle school students, building relationships with them so they would continue to be at church through confirmation and high school.

Reverend Dr. Russell Hildebrandt served as Intentional Interim Pastor from October 2004 to December 2005. Assisted by Reverend Paul Tessaro, he had us reflect on our past and make goals for the future.

Reverend Dennis Bartels joyfully accepted our call to return to Immanuel. However, he served us for only one year, 2006, before returning to Florida.

Reverend Lane Reuter was installed as our next pastor in September 2007. He served Immanuel until March 2014 when he accepted a call to Our Savior Lutheran Church in Nashville, Tennessee, where he still serves. He was assisted by Reverend Terry Tieman, Pastor of Small Groups and Discipleship, from 2010 to 2013. During this time, Immanuel began to hold Service Project Sundays and made connections with organizations in the community such as Memphis Union Mission, the Appling Police Precinct, and others. We also started to regularly send mission teams to both Colombia and Guatemala. From 2011 to May 2014, Pastor Nate Guelzow led New Tribe ministry, a satellite ministry of Immanuel that emphasized serving the community and building relationships to bring people closer to Christ.

As our Interim Pastor from April through September 2014, Reverend Terry Tieman focused on discipleship training, small group ministry, and homeless ministry.

Reverend William Miller served Immanuel from August 2014 until March 2019 when he accepted a call to Faith Lutheran in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he still serves. He expanded the church staff to include Director of Christian Education AJ Vega and Associate Pastor Greg Prauner as well as lay workers to head up assimilation and community outreach. The motto “Connect, Experience, Restore, Repeat” was created to describe Immanuel’s process of carrying out the Great Commission. AJ left Immanuel in February 2020 to serve as DCE at ACTS Church Leander in Texas; he currently serves in the Denver area.

When Pastor Miller left for Nebraska, Pastor Prauner became our Senior Pastor until 2021. He focused on building relationships with our school families and helped us navigate ministry during COVID. He currently serves as Spiritual Care – Associate Chaplain at Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk, Nebraska.

After a brief vacancy, Reverend Neil Vanderbush served us from December 2021 until March 2023 despite dealing with health issues. Reverend Bill Zwick and Chaplain Mike Sneath, both congregational members but not called to our congregation, assisted him during this time. Following Pastor Vanderbush’s return of the call for health reasons, pastors from the Memphis Circuit assisted with Word and Sacrament ministry until Reverend Jon Petering accepted the call to be our pastor. Pastor Petering was installed on June 15, 2024.

During this 100th year of ministry, we have celebrated God’s faithfulness to Immanuel’s generations. In April, we recounted the Places of Ministry to which God has led us. In June, we gave thanks for the People of Ministry through whom God has blessed us, especially our pastors who have proclaimed the Word, administered the Sacraments, and discipled us. In September, we remembered past opportunities for Ministry in Action and were exhorted to be involved in sharing the love of Jesus by building relationships and doing the work which God has planned for us to do now.

We culminate our Centennial Celebration on November 3, 2024, at 3 p.m., when together, we proclaim that “the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:5 Our God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – has been with the Immanuel family throughout the past. May He grant us the faith to trust Him as He leads us into the future…and all the way to eternity in heaven.

To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.