St. Stephen Lutheran Church (Urbandale, Iowa)

St. Stephen Lutheran Church is located in Urbandale, Iowa. Organized in 1954, it is dedicated to Saint Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity and venerated saint of the Church.

History

In 1954 the Iowa Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America recognized Urbandale's need for a Lutheran church, and on July 7, 1954, leaders from the synod met with people from the community who were interested in achieving that goal. Harold B. Rygg, a Board Missionary, was called to minister to the new congregation, and on July 18, 1954, 76 worshippers gathered in Urbandale's American Legion Hall for the first Sunday worship service. Soon, an adult choir was organized, and Vacation Bible School in August drew 38 children. The young mission church's first communion service was held on October 3rd.

In December, worshippers gathered to discuss the formal organization of the Parish of St. Stephen the Martyr. A constitution was adopted and a Church Council was elected. December 19, 1954 became the official date of the formal organization of the congregation. On that day, morning and afternoon ceremonies were held with 58 charter members, representing 105 baptized members, in attendance. In just 5 short months, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Stephen the Martyr had become a reality.

In January 1955, a call was extended to Pastor Rygg who became the first pastor of the new parish. He was installed on January 30th and served St. Stephen until November 15th. On April 1, 1956, Pastor James Youngquist arrived from California to be installed as St. Stephen's pastor. Growth and change followed. The church built a small house chapel at 3315 Monroe Court and left the friendly confines of the American Legion Hall. In 1959, a parsonage was completed at 7019 Beechwood Drive, and plans were being drawn for the first unit of the church, to be built at the corner of 72nd Street and Oliver Smith Drive.

As St. Stephen grew, so did the number of groups and organizations within the church. By 1957, St. Stephen had an Adult Choir (12 voices strong!), Women of the Church, Sunday School, Luther League, Adult Class, and a Couples Group, organized to promote fellowship, group discussion, and spiritual growth among the couples in the congregation. In 1961, the Luther League split into two groups - Junior High and Senior High - and in 1963, St. Stephen's Women of the Church organization became a charter member of the newly-formed national Lutheran Church Women (LCW). Two evening circles - Mary Magdalene and Rebekah -and one afternoon circle - Lydia - were organized.

The first unit of the current church was completed on September 21, 1960. It provided space for worship (on folding chairs until pews were finally installed in 1968), fellowship, and Sunday School - all in the same room! - plus 2 smaller rooms, office space, and a kitchen. (The original unit sits at the north end of our current campus. The sanctuary now serves as our youth room and Sunday Forum room-Room 101-and a meeting and 7th Grade Sunday School room-Room 105. The three offices at the end of the hall were the pastor's office, a secretary's office, and the kitchen.)

In June 1964, after eight years at St. Stephen, Pastor Youngquist resigned and moved on to serve a parish in Laramie, Wyoming. In January 1965, Pastor Rolland Christenson became the third pastor to serve St. Stephen. Building plans, which had been put on hold during the search for a new pastor, began to once again move forward, and on Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965, ground was broken for a new education unit. Dedication services were held in November, 1965, and, with the completion of the second unit, more adequate facilities were available to serve an expanding education program for an expanding congregation, which now numbered 500 baptized members. By 1967, the Sunday School, including a High School class, had grown to 194 students. (The top floor of the 1965 education unit is now offices and a workroom for the church staff; the basement level still functions as classrooms for Sunday School activities.)

By the mid-1960s, two youth choirs for older youth had been added, bringing the total number of choirs to three, and was followed by a music program for first through third graders. The church's athletic program included girl's Softball and boys’ church league basketball. The first Evangelism Committee, an Altar Guild, and a fourth women's circle - Ruth - were all organized in 1967. And in 1969, because of exploding growth in membership, Pastor Ray Cunningham, a former missionary, joined the staff as Visitation Pastor.During Pastor Christenson's tenure, St. Stephen's membership grew from 518 to 873 baptized members. Growth during those years was also reflected in offerings, which increased from $20,250 to $46,753. Pastor Christenson resigned in February, 1973, to become an associate pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa. During the interim, Pastor Grant Carlson, the chaplain at Iowa Lutheran Hospital, and Pastor Harold Olsen led the church and congregational activity continued to increase. A new piano was purchased and a new organ was installed just in time for the installation of a new pastor.In April, 1973, an official call was extended to Reverend David J. Abram. Pastor Abram, an Associate Pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Des Moines, was installed as the fourth pastor at St. Stephen on August 12, 1973. Under his leadership, St. Stephen moved confidently into its third decade.

In December, 1974, St. Stephen celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Members held a birthday party in the commons at the Urbandale Middle School.Pastor Abram served as our pastor until December, 1978, and Pastor Ron Mohr, was called. Pastor Mohr was installed on August 12, 1979, just in time to celebrate the church's twenty-fifth anniversary in December of that year.

As the average age of Iowa's population was growing older, the membership of St. Stephen was growing younger. Youth programs were expanded in order to serve the increasing number of children in the congregation. The High School Youth Group began meeting monthly with planned activities ranging from tubing on the Apple River to picnics and movie nights. A fifth and sixth grade fellowship group was formed. Confirmation was a huge commitment of time and energy for the junior high students. The Junior Choir, which began in 1980, grew to twenty-eight singers, and a new choir for kindergarten through second graders was formed in 1981.Even greater things began happening at St. Stephen in 1980's. As the church continued to grow, the resources increased. Dollar receipts increased 36% from 1979 to 1980 with over $20,000 in benevolence contributed for ministry throughout the Iowa Synod, the LCA, and the world.

By 1981, the image of St. Stephen was changing. It was known by members and non-members alike as the "little" church in Urbandale. But with membership topping 800, people began to realize that the only thing "little" about St. Stephen was the building. In 1981, a building committee began planning for additional worship space, only to be frustrated by a lack of available loan money due to record high interest rates. In 1982, reasonable financing was secured and, in August, construction began on a new sanctuary for St. Stephen. By the time the addition was dedicated on Easter Sunday in 1983, membership had grown to just over 900 members and benevolence giving grew by 23%.

On July 22, 1984, St. Stephen celebrated its 30th Anniversary with an outdoor worship service and picnic. Worship was enhanced that year by the purchase and installation of a beautiful new organ, which was paid for entirely by gifts from the congregation.

St. Stephen experienced its most rapid rate of growth during this decade. Baptized membership in 1984 stood at 914 and increased to 1,461 by the end of 1993, a 59% jump! In response to this growth, new staff, new programs, and new facilities were added.

Associate in Ministry Marlys Bates (Ruth) was called to fill the position of Director of Family Life. A part-time Director of Youth position was created in 1986 and under the leadership of Kevin Longcor, Jim Sammler, Linda Greethurst, and Vonna Hall, our current full-time Youth Ministry Coordinator, St. Stephen's youth programs have flourished. The music program added handbell choirs in 1987 to a list of musical groups at St. Stephen which included Senior Choir, Junior Choir, and Carol Choir. Rejoice! the senior high choir, began soon after.

By 1988, a building fund committee began to envision the church's future needs. Membership had reached 1,100 and the 1983 mortgage had been paid in full. Due to a lack of space, some of the Sunday School classes were forced to meet down the street at Karen Acres School and in a house across the street from the church. There was an immediate need for more education and meeting space. A capital campaign fund drive was launched and the congregation pledged $494,000 and its support for growth and expansion. In 1989, the church council received authorization to hire an architect to prepare preliminary drawings for the expansion and a ground-breaking ceremony was held in the spring of 1990. The new addition included an enlarged sanctuary with a larger choir loft and altar area, a new kitchen and multi-purpose room (Fellowship Hall), Sunday School classrooms, new entrances, a larger narthex, elevator, a remodeled nursery, new offices, and many other improvements. The new facilities were dedicated on February 17, 1991.

Growth continued and in 1993, Sunday morning worship was expanded to three services with two sessions of Sunday School. In November of that year, at a special meeting of the congregation, the congregation voted to extend a call to Pastor Drew Gangle to become St. Stephen's first Associate Pastor. And before the end of this decade of growth, a Saturday evening worship service would also be added. Now 40 years young, St. Stephen was no longer "that little Lutheran church in Urbandale."

1994 saw the young, rapidly growing church begin to mature as membership numbers leveled off. The demographics still showed a large number of families with children, and the programs at church reflected this reality.

In 1994, St. Stephen's Workcamp program sent 4 high school students, Pastor Gangle, and an adult chaperone to New Hampshire for a week of refurbishing and rebuilding on homes of people in need. Over the decade, participation in Workcamp has grown by leaps and bounds, and in 2004, 30 high school students and 6 adults will travel to Fountain, Colorado, for their Work Camp assignment. (The Work Camp program was begun by Linda Greethurst, who served as St. Stephen's Youth Director for many years.)

In February 2001, Pastor Ed Ward led a group of seven St. Stephen members on a mission trip to build a house in an area of Juarez, Mexico, that had formerly served as that city's public landfill. The area was now inhabited by Juarez's poorest of the poor, most living in cardboard shacks and earning what they could doing odd jobs or, if they were lucky, working in one of the American factories that had set up shop in Juarez to take advantage of the cheap labor market. The next year, the group grew to 12 and today, "Crossing Borders for Christ - Christian Missions to Mexico" continues to travel to Juarez each February to build a modest home for a family in need of decent housing.

In September 2003, after four years at St. Stephen, Pastor Ed Ward left to become an intentional interim pastor within the Southeast Iowa Synod of the ELCA. His first assignment was to St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa. With a huge hole to fill in the church's pastoral staff, St. Stephen again went looking and again found Pastor Bob Wessels, back home from his service in Alaska, to fill the void, this time with the title of Teaching Pastor. Also in 2003, Visitation Pastor Bob Boudewyns left St. Stephen to lead a church in West Branch, Iowa. He was replaced by Pastor Peter Larsen, a St. Stephen member and retired ELCA pastor.

External links

* [http://www.ststephenlutheran.org/ St. Stephen Lutheran Church]
* [http://www.elca.org/ScriptLib/OS/Congregations/cdsDetail.asp?Id=A59FA1B091 ELCA congregation profile]