Faith Lutheran Church turns 50

Faith Lutheran Church will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend, Oct. 11-12.

A picnic and game day will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday and a special worship celebration will be held on Sunday at 3 p.m., followed by a banquet dinner.

Two of the church's former pastors, Rev. W.A. Hansel, the first resident pastor, and Rev. M. A. Kellerman, will be participating in the events.

All past and present members and friends are invited to attend.

Faith Lutheran had a humble beginning, dating back to the early 1950s.

It was actually in 1946 that interest was shown for this area. David Wallace was living on a ranch near Prairie and was looking for a place to worship. Unfortunately St. Paul's in Boise was the closest church and "Lutheran" ministry was not being done in Mountain Home. In 1954 after the Air Force base was reopened, it was determined that the Mountain Home Lutheran Mission should be organized.

That mission was served by several pastors from the Boise Valley and met in a variety of places. Finally they found a home in the Seventh-Day Adventist building. In 1956 Rev. Wilfred Hansel was called to be the first resident missionary.

In 1957 the first officers were elected to the mission. They were: Duane Falske, President; J. Schubert, Secretary-treasurer; Harold de la Motte, Sunday School superintendent. In October of 1958 it was decided that a congregation was to be formed with the name "Faith Lutheran." A constitution was adopted in November and the first property site was purchased with a loan from the Northwest District.

Shortly afterwards the property was traded for the present property and on Feb. 21, 1960, a groundbreaking service was held for the building of the church. It was a simple A-frame design that would seat 200 people and have rooms for Sunday School and fellowship in the basement. The initial cost was about $47,000. In 1962, the parsonage was built for about $20,500.

Even though there was a great fluctuation of people due to the movement within the Air Force, the average attendance continued to grow.

Shortly after Rev. Mervin Kellerman was called in 1980, several major changes took place. In 1981, the congregation placed a bid to purchase a temporary school building from the school district in order to make it into a fellowship hall. Eventually the church bought three buildings. At the same time the congregation decided to make a major remodel to the church and added the wing and pastor's office.

Many volunteer hours were spent finishing the fellowship hall. It was also decided that the church would need a part-time secretary and Gail Hardwick was hired for that position, which she held until 2006.

The church made the decision to open a Christian Day School and in the spring of 1985 they called Craig Kellerman to be their first teacher and headmaster. In the fall of 1985 the church opened a one-room school with eight students in four grades. For the next 21 years Faith Lutheran School provided the community with an alternative Christian education.

In 1990, Rev. Jerome Wohlfeil was called and installed as Faith's fifth pastor. Under his shepherding the church and school continued to move forward. The school increased from a two-room plus kindergarten, to a three-room school plus kindergarten. Ruth Wohlfeil served as the kindergarten teacher for seven years. During Rev. Wohifeil's time the stained glass windows were installed as well as the new Allen organ. A new hallway was added to the school and the first stage of metal siding was installed.

Due to financial difficulties, the school was closed following the 2005-2006 school year.

In 2003. Rev. Craig Kellerman became the new pastor.

"During these past five years, we have continued to make changes and improvements," he said. The fellowship hall was renovated with new windows and the rest of the metal siding was put on. The church building also underwent some major changes -- a handicap bathroom was built into the cry room, the basement bathrooms were remodeled, a new heating and air-conditioning system was installed, and the front entry was remodeled.