Advent
Lutheran
Church
History
In the summer of 1962, the Board of American Missions of
the
Lutheran
Church
in
America
’s Southeastern Synod sent a Mission Developer to establish another LCA
congregation in the
Augusta
area. The mission developer, Rev.
William H. Martin, canvassed the area to determine that potential membership in
the proposed church. Results showed
that the area could support another LCA Lutheran Mission Congregation.
A meeting was held on Reformation Sunday, 1962 for
interested families. Plans were made
for the first worship service to be held on Dec. 1962 with the first Sunday
School being scheduled for
Dec 16, 1962
. The theme “Together We Move
Forward’ was adopted.
Advent Lutheran met in the Martinez Masonic Lodge with 92 people attending
the first worship service and 75 children enrolled in Sunday School 2 weeks
later. The official charter signing
was held on
Sunday, April 15, 1963
with 143 people signing the charter. The
congregational meeting on
April 10, 1963
adopted the first constitution, elected a council and adopted a budget.
In may 1963 the church purchase land on
Washington Road
in preparation to build. The
groundbreaking ceremony for the first building was on
February 14, 1965
and a new theme for the church was adopted, “A Growing Congregation Serving a
Growing Community.” The first
service in the new sanctuary was held on
Sept. 19, 1965
On Advent’s 5th
Anniversary (1968) the parish register showed 302 baptized members.
In December of 1973 Advent became self-sufficient and the name of the
newsletter became the “ADVENTtuer.” On
October 28, 1979
the “Green Book” (Lutheran Book of Worship) was introduced.
In 1983 Advent decided to build a new sanctuary.
The groundbreaking for the present sanctuary was
Dec 9, 1984
with the dedication being on
Dec. 1, 1985
. Advent entered the computer age in
1984 with purchase of a computer for the church office.
Our newest section of the church (fellowship hall, kitchen,
office spaces, and choir room) was begun by the groundbreaking
ceremony held on Nov22, 1992, The
dedication of the building was on
September 19, 1993
. As of today, Advent has 504
baptized members, 387 of the confirmed and 399 communicants.
Pastor Jon Edwards - Summer 04
Interim Pastor Nancy Jan 05- April 05
Pastor Matthew Lash May 1,
2005 – Current