History of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in Shawnee, OK
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod missionaries were first sent to Oklahoma after the land run of 1889 to faithfully preach the Word of God and to administer the Sacraments as instituted by Christ. After two years of groundwork, the first Lutheran services were held at Marena, OK in 1891. Later, Lutheran pastors from Wellston and Cushing began serving the community around Shawnee until 1909 when Rev. Theodore C. Otto was called from Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois to serve as an area missionary. Pastor Otto held Lutheran services in German at the Shawnee City Hall and reached out into the area communities as far as Earlsboro, Prague, Arlington, Durant, Coalgate, and Hugo for the three and a half years he was here. In 1912 he accepted a call from the Lutheran church in Okarche, leaving a vacancy in Shawnee that lasted for eight months.
As the Lutheran community sought to fill that vacancy, there were no regular Lutheran services until Rev. Karl Freese accepted the call to serve the Shawnee area in 1913. Rev. Freese began holding a regular English-language service while offering one service each month in German. On June 24, 1914, the Lutheran community around Shawnee organized itself as St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church with seven charter members (Charles Mayer, George Sheiding, Herman F. Turner, George H. Otto, George H. Otto, Jr, Marter Meyer, and William Otto). Under Pastor Freese, the congregation expanded out of City Hall and agreed to purchase the vacant Dutch Reform Indian mission church (known as the Horton Memorial Church) at Park and Wallace for their budget of $1,600. The first official service of St. John Lutheran Church Missouri Synod was held Easter Sunday, 1916.
Rev. Edgar J. Buerger (1922-1943) was called by the Oklahoma District Mission Board to serve the saints at Shawnee and to build a chapel in which to conduct Word and Sacrament ministry. Instead, with funds borrowed from the AAL, he built a parsonage next to the old Dutch Reform mission (which served as the parsonage until 1972, until it was coopted as the church’s kitchen and offices). Here, St. John continued to hold regular Sunday school and worship; still with a German-language service offered on the fourth Sunday of each month. In the years after Pastor Buerger took a call as an Army chaplain, Word and Sacrament ministry continued in Shawnee and the surrounding areas through other faithful vicars and pastors.
1943-1944 Vicar Elmer Neunaber; 1944-1946 Rev. L. A. Reinke; 1946-1950 Rev. Mark L. Heilman;
1950-1952 Rev. Edward F. Eggert; 1952-1959 Rev. Paul H. Heitman; 1959-1966 Rev. R. L. Young;
1966-1971 Rev. Dan Streufert
Rev. Floyd Schoenhals accepted the call to St. John in 1971. During this time, Shawnee drew many Lutherans from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to serve in the growing industrial trades. The 70’s also saw rising conflict in the Missouri Synod over the truth and interpretation of the Bible in what famously became known as "The Battle for the Bible." Faithful Lutherans were still teaching that the whole Bible was God's inspired, inerrant Word, while others were teaching that it didn't matter if one believed the truth of the whole Bible so long as you believed the Gospel ("Gospel Reductionism"). This came to its head in 1974 when the errant faculty at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis walked out in protest against the LCMS's call to stop teaching "Gospel Reductionism." This walkout, and the attempt of the errant teachers to continue teaching against the LCMS's rebuke, came to be known as Seminex (“Seminary In Exile”). Concern about this tension in the LCMS caused Rev. Schoenhals to encourage St. John to leave the LCMS and join the American Lutheran Church (ALC). After a congregational vote, St. John was received into membership in the ALC in 1979. (The ALC would later merge into the ELCA in 1988).
Those who did not agree with abandoning the Missouri Synod had to leave their home church. In 1980, a contingent of 7 members joined Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Midwest City. There they approached Good Shepherd’s pastor, Rev. Gerald Quiram, about continuing an LCMS ministry in Shawnee. On August 22, 1982, Pastor Quiram and 24 others met at Kimi’s Pizza Place in Shawnee to reestablish a Missouri Synod mission. The official organizers and first members were Mrs. Hattie Seebeck, Mrs. Edna Abbott, Walter and Eula May Jenny, Bill and Marie Kottke, Thelma Snyder, Louise Scheidt, Bernita and Bill Coble, Darlene Quinnett, Velma Bernard, Mrs. Lillian Anderson, Phyllis Fuxa, and Mrs. Thelma Lane. The first scheduled Communion service was held at 7pm on September 26, 1982 at Kimi’s, with Pastor Quiram using the counter space as the altar. On October 25, 1982, the mission in Shawnee was formally constituted as “Redeemer Lutheran Church.” With the sale of Kimi’s, one group met at the Seminole College Campus and then the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Seminole under the name “Faith,” while the “Redeemer” group met at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Shawnee. In February of 1983, the MacArthur Street property in Shawnee was purchased by the Oklahoma District LCMS in anticipation of Redeemer’s permanent home, with plans to also build "Faith" a permanent chapel in Seminole.
A few months later, in August 1983, Robert Krahn was assigned by the Oklahoma District LCMS as a Missionary at Large Vicar to Redeemer. And, on August 26, 1984, Pastor Robert Krahn was ordained as Redeemer’s first pastor. With their new pastor, Redeemer embarked on building their own place for receiving God’s gifts of Word and Sacrament. In partnership with the Oklahoma District, “Laborers for Christ,” and the commitment of the members, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the MacArthur Street property for Redeemer on September 28, 1986, with charter members Kathryn Friers, Hattie Seebeck, and Thelma Lane taking up the shovel. On October 25, 1987 the first morning service at the new church celebrated the Baptism of Tyler James Brack, with the Church Dedication service held that afternoon at 3p with approximately 240 people in attendance. At 6:30p an appreciation dinner was held in honor of the “Laborers for Christ” who had helped build Redeemer for the previous 4 months; since July 1987. In 1988, the Seminole “Faith” mission merged with “Redeemer” to form one LCMS congregation.
In 1989 Pastor Krahn accepted a call. The vacancy was filled by Pastor Charles Miller from Wellston until Pastor Jonathon Cholcher was called from the seminary as a Missionary at Large of the Oklahoma District serving Redeemer on July 8, 1990. The tenth Anniversary of Redeemer was celebrated on October 25, 1992 with the publishing and sale of a Redeemer Cookbook. On January 24, 1993, Pastor Cholcher was officially removed from Missionary status and installed as Redemer’s second pastor. During this time, membership grew and an outreach was established in Prague. In 1996, Pastor Cholcher took a call and Pastor Miller of Wellston again served the vacancy until Pastor John Nelson took the call as our third pastor in June of 1997. In early 1999, Pastor Nelson took another call and Pastor Wackler of Ardmore served the vacancy until August of 1999 when Pastor Lenny Szeto was called from the seminary and ordained as Redeemer’s fourth pastor. After he took a call in 2001, Oklahoma District President Hartman met to discuss Redeemer’s future, as the years between 2001 and 2004 were very difficult. Pastor Myron Maltz served as guest preacher for morning services and Pastor Gary Brandt of Ada served for visitation and special services during the vacancy.
On August 29, 2004, Pastor Lewis Walters began his A.R. Vicarage at Redeemer and was ordained as our fifth pastor on February 22, 2005. During this time, Pastor Walters again built up the Sunday School, VBS, and community outreach programs. The Lord blessed Redeemer during these years with much growth, including the building of a new sanctuary which began in spring, 2013 and held its first service on Easter Sunday, 2015. The dedication service was celebrated August 23, 2015.
During 2020, the COVID epidemic hit churches hard as members and leadership sought to determine how best to “love their neighbor” while “loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Like most churches, Redeemer closed for a time while providing virtual ministries. Pastor Walters retired in August of 2020. After COVID, members began to return to worship and to build back from the effects of the separation.
February 21, 2021, Pastor Matthew Tassey was installed as Redeemer’s sixth pastor.
From 1909 to this day, the Word and Sacraments have been God’s mission among the Confessional Lutherans here in Shawnee. May the Lord grant continued zeal and opportunity to His glory and to our community’s good.
