OUR JOURNEY

 Immanuel Lutheran Church was organized in 1943 and the first worship service was held on March 7, 1943. Dedication services for the first church facility were held on November 14, 1943 at 24th and Franklin Sts. in Bellevue.  Articles of Incorporation were filed on October 9, 1944 when we became Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church.  The first service was held in that building on Thanksgiving Day 1950 with the dedication of the new building on February 11, 1951.

 The church building was sold in 1968 and land was purchased on Childs Road for relocation.  In the interim, the congregation moved temporarily to the basement of the Southroads Shopping Center.  Attendance declined, but eventually rebounded with the arrival of Pastor Robert Buschkemper and by 1978 membership passed the 300 mark.  Property was purchased at 104 Galvin Road North and a Building Committee was formed.

 Groundbreaking took place on April 15, 1979 and the congregation moved into the new facility on December 4, 1979 with dedication on January 13, 1980.  Pastor David deFreese arrived on August 1, 1986, membership continued to grow, and a fellow- ship hall with classrooms in the basement was added in 1989.

 In 2002 the Bellevue Food Pantry relocated its operation to a portable building in our parking lot and this year members of Immanuel, Ron and Mary Begg, assumed the role of Pantry Directors.  We are hosts to many community groups who meet here on a regular basis and we continually support homeless shelters, the Bellevue Ministerial Association, and Habitat for Humanity as part of our mission.

 During Pastor Terry Nielsen’s time with us, he was privileged to travel to Moshi, Tanzania as part of a synod sponsored pastor exchange program and we were privileged to host Pastor James Nkya here at Immanuel in October 2005.  As a result of that friendship, we have begun a prayer and financial partnership with Karanga Lutheran Parish in Moshi.

 Through the years, we are pleased to have had several daughters of the congregation go on to seminary, including Rita Gardner, Pam Ciulla, Sandra Birchmeier, and Theresa Garrison.

 We pray that God will help us to serve Him by serving others in the years to come and we hope to continue to be a vital part of the Bellevue religious community.

February 1943 - Spring 1944
  -  Hilda Kaercher, Foreign Missionary

March 1943
  -  Pastor A.H. Pinkall

April 1943
  -  Pastor Will Henning

November 1943
  -   Student Pastor A.H. Anderson

October 1944 - April 1947
  -  Student Pastor P.O. Anderson

April 1947 - 1948
  -  Student Pastor Phillip Bibleheimer

1948 - 1949
  -  Pastor Arthur Kramer

January 1950 - 1952
  -  Pastor George Steffens

June 1952 - 1956
  -  Pastor Robert Lesher

October 1956 - 1964
  -  Pastor Paul Konig

May 1964 - August 1967
  -  Pastor John Price

May 1968 - 1976
  -  Pastor Y.E. Nelson

June 1976 - 1985
  -  Pastor Robert Buschkemper

1985 - 1986
  -  Interim Pastor Phil Lathrop

August 1986 - June 1993
  -  Pastor David deFreese

June 1993 - February 1994
  -  Interim Pastor Harold Schmidt

February 1994 to February 2010
  -  Pastor Terry Nielsen

November 1998 - July 2002
  -  Pastor Milana Joseph

March 2010 - TBD
  -  Interim Pastor Gail Madson

               (All are in Bellevue, Nebraska)

1943  -  First Presbyterian Church

1943  -  USO House

1943  -  24th and Franklin Streets

1968  -  Southroads Shopping Center

1979  -  104 Galvin Road North