Brief History of Peace Lutheran Church…

Peace Lutheran Church began in 1870 and began as a rural church in a German community. We have been in three locations since moving into Rockdale.

The Rev. Immanuel Glatzel organized Peace Lutheran Church on June 24, 1883. The Church was located in a small German community called Bushdale, a short distance from Rockdale. The first resident pastor, Rev. Julius E.H. Schroeder, a young theological candidate from a German seminary, arrived in 1888. Under his leadership the first church and parsonage were built. In 1909 a chapel was built in the town of Rockdale at the corner of Bell and Wilcox where Grace Lutheran is presently located. In 1913 services were discontinued in Rockdale and Bushdale was served by the pastor from Detmold, a community 15 miles away.

In 1925 Rev. F. Walther was instrumental in changing the place of service from Bushdale to Rockdale and the Rockdale chapel was enlarged to accommodate both congregations. In 1931 Rockdale and Sharp became one congregation. In 1939 the church purchased the disbanded First Presbyterian Church building in Rockdale at San Gabriel and Davilla. The bell was presented by the Rockdale School Board (cast Baltimore, 1884). The bell was transferred to the new building and has continued to be used.

On October 29, 1967, the new building, on Meadow Drive in Rockdale was completed and Peace Lutheran Church held a dedication service. In 1983 the congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary as Peace Lutheran Church. In 1993 the Peace Lutheran Fellowship Hall was constructed. Peace Lutheran is a charter member of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), joining in 2014. In 2017, the congregation celebrated its 50th year at Peace Lutheran Church on Meadow Drive.

Pastors

Pastors who have served this congregation and its predecessors include:
1883 Rev. Immanuel Glatzle
1888 Rev. Julius E. H. Schroeder
1892 Rev. F. Ernst
1902 Rev. C. Roth
1904 Rev. G. Walter
1906 Rev. J. J. Wiess
1908 Rev. Th. N. Ander
1913 Rev. C. Roth
1920 Rev. J. E. Scheffel
1925 Rev. F. Walther
1931 Rev. Richard Steege
1936 Rev. Otto R. Schawe
1938 Rev. Siegfried T. Schroeder
1942 Rev. E. C. Elzey
1947 Rev. F. T. Sager
1964 Rev. S. E. Sultemeier
1968 Rev. Gary E. Mayer
1973 Rev. Waldemar Wendel
1980 Rev. Herbert Lammert
2000 Rev. Brian Bauer
2006 Rev. Janice A. Campbell
2013 Rev Ed Truelson
2019 Rev. Gary Veit
2023 Rev. Patrick K. Welton

Mission

The Mission of Peace Lutheran is to worship the Triune God and respond to the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ by:

  • Baptism, Worship, and Weekly Communion;
  • Hearing and Studying God’s Word;
  • Loving one another as Christ loves, forgiving and supporting one another in good times and bad;
  • Witnessing Christ’s great love through service and unity

Core Values

Christ Centered We confess the apostolic faith in Jesus Christ according to the Holy Scriptures. We affirm the authority of the Scriptures as the authoritative source and norm, “according to which all doctrines should and must be judged” (Formula of Concord). We accept the ecumenical creeds and the Lutheran Confessions as true witnesses to the Word of God.

Mission Driven We believe that the mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel and to make disciples for Christ. We believe that making disciples — in our congregations, in our communities and nations, and around the world — must be a priority of the Church in the present age.

Traditionally Grounded We affirm the ecumenical creeds and the faithful witness of the Church across time and space. We endorse the form and practices of the universal Church that are consistent with Scripture, particularly the office of the ministry and the tradition of worship under Word and Sacrament. We seek dialogue and fellowship with other Lutheran churches and with faithful Christians of other confessions.

Congregationally Focused We strive to be a church that is organized to facilitate the ministries of local congregations in a posture of servanthood and a spirit of partnership, through the provision of resources, connections and information.

Our Confession of Faith

As a member of the North American Lutheran Church, Peace Lutheran Church confesses:

  1. The Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  2. Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.
    a. Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom everything was made and through whose life, death, and resurrection God fashions a new creation.
    b. The proclamation of God’s message to us as both Law and Gospel is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy through word and deed, beginning with the Word in creation, continuing in the history of Israel, and centering in all its fullness in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
    c. The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit speaking through their authors, they record and announce God’s revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through them the Holy Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world.
  3. The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith and life, “according to which all doctrines should and must be judged.” (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Part I)
  4. The Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as true declarations of the faith of the Church.
  5. The Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness to the Gospel, acknowledging as one with it in faith and doctrine all churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.
  6. The other confessional writings in the Book of Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles and the Treatise, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as further valid interpretations of the faith of the Church.
  7. The Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the Church for God’s mission in the world.

Further, PLC honors and accepts The Common Confession (2005), as a summary of teachings otherwise affirmed in the Lutheran Confessions. https://thenalc.org/confession-of-faith/

To learn more about our beliefs, you may

  • Read The Book of Concord, which contains all the historic Lutheran confessions. It may be found online, https://bookofconcord.org,
  • Visit the homepage of the North American Lutheran Church, https://thenalc.org,
  • Or visit with our pastor.