A Brief History of Zion Lutheran Church

According to "Reminiscence of Church History Previous to 1885" read by Mary Oelwein Krauss at Zion's fiftieth anniversary, memories of Lutheran worship services in the Oelwein community dated back as far as 1861. Recorded documents beginning in 1869 state that regular services were being conducted for Lutherans in Oelwein. On May 18, 1885 the Evangelical Lutheran Zion's Congregation of Oelwein was organized and in October 1885, a new church building located at South Frederick Avenue and Third Street SE was dedicated.

The Lord blessed the labors of Zion and the church building became too small for the growing congregation. After many volunteer hours and donated funds, a new building, located on Fourth Avenue SE was dedicated on February 25, 1900. By 1910 at the celebration of the congregation's 25th anniversary, the baptized membership totaled 460.

By 1945 the congregation had grown to 846 members, making it necessary to build the current church building which was dedicated in 1954. By the 75th anniversary the congregation had grown to 1468 baptized members.

In 1968 two significant events happened in Oelwein which affected the lives of many members of Zion. On May 15 at 4:57 p.m., several tornados passed through Oelwein causing major damage, with the church and parsonage among the buildings needing repair, along with many homes and businesses. On July 1, the Chicago Great Western Railway, which was one of the major employers in Oelwein, merged into the Chicago Northwestern Railroad.

In 1984 a second full time pastor and a full time youth director were added to the staff. At the time of the centennial in 1985 there were 1409 members. After a great deal of prayer and discussion, in 1987, the congregation joined the newly formed Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

In 1992 the elevator and Hospitality Room were built to increase Zion's accessibility and to provide more opportunities for fellowship. In 1995 twenty-one members of Zion traveled together to Israel. In 1997-98 Zion sent four outreach teams to physically assist with ministries outside our own congregation. Disaster response teams assisted the people of St. Thomas after the hurricanes of 1995-96 and aided the people of the Red River Valley after the flood of 1997. Zions's high school youth group traveled to San Rafael, Mexico to help with the building of a Lutheran youth center.

In July 2000, Pastors Leo and Charis Combs-Lay accepted our call. In 2003 air conditioning was installed. In 2007 our pipe organ received a major refit and the church will get a new metal roof.

Together we seek to faithfully preach and teach the word of God and administer the Sacrements, reach out to the world with the love of Jesus in word and deed, and support one another through prayer and fellowship. We pray that filled with God's Spirit we may continue to be a faithful part of the body of Christ.