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History
United
Lutheran
Church - 1974
The
Consolidation Model.
The
model, known as the "consolidation
model," was the name which was applied
to the Cripple Creek Parish.
This parish consisted of four
congregations: Zion,
Rosenbaum
Chapel, St. Peter's,
and Bethany.
The
Cripple
Creek
Parish had been without a full-time
pastor for about
five years and was served by the intern
program during much of that
time. In 1970 the pastor of the Rural
Retreat Parish was enlisted by
Synod to assist the Cripple Creek Parish
in working toward a new parish
arrangement and the calling of a pastor.
After many hours of study and
exploring the possibility of merging the
four congregations, the Rev.
Henning Pearson accepted the call to be
the pastor of the Cripple Creek
Parish in 1972.
After
several years in the parish, and
building on the foundation already laid,
Pastor Pearson, working with
LCA staff person, Carroll Wessinger,
informed the Synod Executive Board
that the congregations were ready to
consolidate themselves into a
single congregation. It was soon
learned, however, that Zion Church
would not be part of the merger but
would remain a part of the parish
as a single congregation. The
other three churches proceeded with
the merger.
Consolidation
of Bethany, St Peter's, and
Rosenbaum Chapel was not an easy task.
Originally all congregations
involved were reluctant to sacrifice
their historical identity and
peculiar heritage by merging into a
single congregation. It took a lot
of patience, forbearance, love and all
the other gifts that St. Paul
commended, to arrive at the point of
bringing the three parish
congregations into one. Much credit is
due to the pastor and lay people
of these congregations for their
willingness to join forces and to
embark on a new historical era. The
merged congregation adopted the
name of "United Lutheran Church"
and for a while used the old
facilities of Bethany Church as the site
of their worship, education,
and fellowship programs. Pastor Pearson
retired in 1977 and in November
of that same year the parish was
successful in calling Seminarian Alan
Traher, from the Washington, D.C. area
as their new pastor. In August
of 1978 the United congregation voted to
purchase a site on Route 21
South of Wytheville near the Four Way
Crossroads. Under the leadership
of Pastor Traher, a new church building
was constructed at the site in
1981.
Soon
after the construction of the new
church, Pastor Traher accepted a call to
Maryland, and the second
Lutheran Lay Minister to serve in Wythe
County, Gary Kelly of the
Floyd-Willis Parish, was called to be
its new pastor. Pastor Kelly
continued to serve quite ably in that
capacity until his untimely death
on January 1, 1997. The merged
congregation of United Lutheran Church
has worked well under the leadership of
Pastor Kelly, and the merger of
these congregations serves as a model
for the consolidation of smaller
congregations into a more central and
viable base for ministry. The
three merging congregations had served a
vital role in the history of
Wythe County Lutherans, a heritage that
continues in the new union.
Above from Beside the Still Waters 1998
author, Roger S. Kluttz pp. 279-280
Pastors,
United Lutheran Church 1974
Kenning B.
Pearson
1974-1977
Alan D.
Traher
1977-1983
Gary E. Kelly
(Lay)
1984-1997
Martin F. Saarinen
(Interim) 1997-
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