Lutheran Church of Peace started in a conversation at the Minnesota Mining Research Center. In the mid-fifties, a group of people from St. Paul’s growing east side met with mission-minded Lutherans to explore starting a new church. Pastor James A. Larson agreed to work with the interested families, and the first worship service was held on September 9, 1956 in the basement of Richard and Eunice Churchill. After the congregation was officially chartered as Lutheran Church of Peace (LCP) on November 14, 1956, the group purchased land and built a parsonage (home of a pastor). Worship services were held there until the chapel was dedicated on February 2, 1958, forming a new worshiping community with 214 members.
The congregation continued to grow, and the building was expanded in 1961 to include educational space and Montgomery Hall, a space where people gather to get to know one another around coffee and bakery treats each Sunday. The Lutheran Church of Peace Preschool began in 1973. A new sanctuary was built in 1974, and the parsonage was renovated and converted into a Youth Center in 1992. During renovations to the sanctuary in 1993, worship services were held at Carver School. The partnership and collaborative relationship with LCP and our neighbors–Carver School and several small office buildings–continues today. At the congregation’s 50th Anniversary in 2006, stained glass windows were installed; today, a new art installment has been commissioned and is underway.
Lutheran Church of Peace has been served by many faithful pastors. From 1986 to the present, Lutheran Church of Peace has had an ongoing partnership with Luther Seminary, hosting seminary interns (people who are in the process of becoming pastors). Most recently, a seminarian served as the congregation’s Children, Youth and Family coordinator. LCP has also been a partner with Kising’a, a parish in the Iringa Diocese of Tanzania,since 1999. The congregation gathers to serve neighbors in a wide variety of ways. As part of a joint effort with the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches, LCP was a host congregation for Project Home from 2000 through 2015. We are a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Saint Paul Area Synod.
We are currently in a time of transition, welcoming new worshipers into our midst, and working together through the Mission Exploration process to rediscover God’s call for us in this historical moment. We welcome all the gifts that each one brings to the table in this new and opportune time to be church. Come and join Lutheran Church of Peace, where the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding people to “worship, serve, and share God’s peace.”