Wisconsin Rapids / Wisconsin / United States
St. Lukes Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized with 23 families in April of 1949. The first formal worship service was held at the Palace Theater with the construction of our first church building in 1950. The present church was dedicated in 1957 and additional buildings have been added since that time to address our educational and office needs. The St. Lukes church family has grown to over 1, 900 baptized members. God has truly blessed St. Lukes with many fine people of faith answering Gods call to serve at St. Lukes in the positions of pastor, vicar and Director of Christian Education. These God-appointed shepherds of our flock have preached, counseled, led, taught and encouraged us. Two men stand out from the others due to their long time service to their Lord at St. Lukes - our first pastor, Rev. Leonard F. Schneider who was installed in 1949 and served until his death in 1970 and our present pastor, Rev. Timothy Wenger who has served at St. Lukes from 1971 to the present time. Womens Ministry of St. Lukes is the overall organization for women which is affiliated with Lutheran Womens Missionary League and the organization of our eleven circles. * Senior Women * meet monthly for a meal and fellowship, supporting each other with love, understanding and encouragement. Two mens groups are currently active in ministry - M.I.L.L. (Men of Integrity Living for the Lord) and Veterans of the Cross. The St. Lukes Choir has been an active choir spanning many years of history. They enhance our worship and have presented several cantatas in recent years. Glory Ringers, the hand bell choir, also provide praise in music and song on a scheduled basis throughout the year. Several praise band groups have been established to lead the Praise and Worship services - a more contemporary style of worship held each Wednesday evening. We are blessed to have many instrumentalists, soloists and two quartets who share their talents and love of music in our worship setting as well.
