OUR JOURNEY

 Immanuel Lutheran Church was organized in 1943 with the first worship service held on March 7, 1943 at the Presbyterian Church with 45 people attending. The next month the USO Club at the corner of Mission and Franklin in Bellevue was rented and the first service was held there on April 11. Lots were purchased at the corner of 24th and Franklin and groundbreaking for the new facility was held on September 19 with dedication services on November 14, 1943. When Articles of Incorporation were filed on October 9, 1944, Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church became official.

Looking ahead to the future area of expansion in Bellevue, 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 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. Membership continued to grow and a fellowship hall with classrooms in the basement was added in 1989.

In 2005, Pastor Terry Nielsen 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, an effort that formed a relationship with the Northern Diocese and Karanga Parish in Moshi that continues to this day.

Through the years, we were pleased to have had several members of our congregation go on to seminary, including Rita Gardner, Pam Ciulla, Sandra Birchmeier, Theresa Garrison, and Nicholas Clark. Pastor David deFreese now serves as Bishop of the Nebraska Synod ELCA.

During a building program in 2009-2010, our facility again changed with an addition that included an expanded kitchen, fellowship hall, nursery, youth room, and classrooms and just this summer a Columbarium was added to our church grounds.

We are currently a congregation of 704 baptized and 535 confirmed members and we recently welcomed a new pastor, Rev. Lowell Nelson, to lead us into the future. We pray that God will guide us so that we will be a blessing to the Bellevue community for many years to come.