A Brief History
The history of Lutheranism in Franklin County is a long a varied one. The first Lutheran congregation in Franklin county was St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, organized in 1870 in Pomona, KS. Not much is known about this congregation, but more Lutheran congregations sprung up in the county by the early 1900’s. Unfortunately with the hardships and migrations of World War I and the Depression era all Lutheran congregations in the county closed their doors. Faith Lutheran grew out of this tumultuous time.
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) became active in Ottawa in the early 1930’s when several pastors canvased the area. Finally, the LCMS was able to secure the old Swedish Mission for holding services. Pastor Walter E. Stoppelwerth of Lawrence conducted the first service there on December 31, 1939. Services were conducted regularly twice a month on Sunday afternoon. In 1941 the Swedish Mission building was purchased by the LCMS Mission in Ottawa and was dedicated September 7, 1941. Lutherans from as far away as Topeka were in attendance for the service. Pastor Stoppelwerth continued continued to preach every Sunday until he took a call to Emporia. His farewell sermon was preached to the Ottawa Lutherans November 19, 1941. At that time Pastor Ervin Rodehorst of Paola continued the Lutheran Mission in Ottawa. The first Holy Communion was held December 14, 1941 and the first Baptism took place January 21, 1942. On July 26, 1942 the congregation in Ottawa received Candidate Conrad E Soderstrom under the supervision of Pastor Victor Meyer of Lawrence and services began being held in the morning.
On February 21, 1943 the congregation was officially organized and February 28, 1943 saw the first class of confirmands. On that same date, Candidate Soderstrom conducted his farewell service after accepting a call to California. Finally, on May 23, 1943 Rev. Howard E. Mueller became the first permanent pastor of Faith Lutheran. That same year Faith was officially recognized as a congregation of the LCMS at the Kansas District convention. Since then Faith has engaged in various forms of mission and outreach to proclaim Christ to the world, including helping to start a congregation in Garnett and Baldwin.
Footprints of Faith
The following is a more in depth historical account of Faith Lutheran as prepared by the Interim Ministry Task Force in August of 2009. It was updated July 2011.
Pastors of Faith Lutheran
Rev. Conrad E. Soderstrom
July 26, 1942–Feb 28, 1943
Rev. Howard E. Mueller
May 23, 1943–Jan 23, 1949
Rev. Fred Wegener
June 12, 1949–Sept 25, 1955
Rev. Lee W. Lennon Jr
Jan 28, 1956–Jan 15, 1958
Died while serving Faith Lutheran
Rev. Kurt J. Juengel
Aug 3, 1958–Nov 8, 1964
Rev. Earl J. Zimmerman
March 7, 1965–June 1992
Retired from Faith Lutheran
Rev. John Duran
June 1992–Jan 31, 2008
Retired from Faith Lutheran
Rev. James L. Wiese
June 15, 2008–Sept 19, 2010
Rev. Charles W. Adams
October 3, 2010–July 31, 2020
Retired from Faith Lutheran
Rev. Timothy L. Roth
May 2, 2021–Present