Gloria Dei Lutheran Church celebrates 50th anniversary in Tecumseh

By DEB WUETHRICH

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church will celebrate its 50 years within the Tecumseh Community with a social event on Saturday, April 19, and a Festival Worship Service and dinner on Sunday, April 20. Saturday’s events will include a 1950s theme Sock Hop, complete with hula hoops and ice cream treats. On Sunday, Bishop John Schreiber, Bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, from Detroit, will join the congregation in marking its special event. A celebration dinner will take place at Masonic Hall following the services.

Betty Wing, a charter member, and June Macbeth, who joined within a couple of years, can remember when Gloria Dei was first organized and made its home at its present site after purchasing the old Brownsville School, which was built by Henry Ford. Church members including Jim Colson and Dean Sheldon remember going to school there, according to present pastor, Reverend Richard Webb, who has been there for 14 years. Wing and Macbeth recalled those early days.

“I remember when some young people went around our community and asked how people in town felt about a new little church,” said June. She said she had been a Lutheran all her life, and found a friendly community at Gloria Dei as the congregation grew.

“Pastor Bergman came to our house,” said Betty. The Reverend Robert Bergman was installed as the congregation’s first full time pastor in June of 1958, although the church became organized on March 11, 1958. Originally, worship services were held in the local high school gymnasium in the building that now houses the school district’s central offices. Four other pastors also served Gloria Dei including The Reverend Victor Gruhn, Dr. Lazlo Gero, The Reverend Frederick Prezioso, and The Reverend Ronald Johnson.
“Pastor Gero was from Hungary and spent time in a prison camp,” said Betty. “When he first came here, he didn’t have a driver’s license and relied on the congregation to drive him around. Later, he had a license but no car, so the congregation still drove him around.” June said that Gero originally was a newspaper man, but after spending time in the prison camp, he heard the call to become a pastor. The women said early on when funds were scarce, their pastor told them to use his salary for other things. “We weren’t paying him that much anyway,” said Betty.

The church’s first organ was purchased in 1958 for $1,200 and Mae Illeck was the first organist. Congregation members then went about the business of forming groups such as the Women of Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and other groups that did outreach in the community.

“Our congregation’s theme was that one was a friend to all,” said June.
Over the years the congregation has grown from its 51 charter members to its present 787 baptized members. Several renovations have taken place to accommodate growth. A sanctuary and gathering area was constructed in 1963, with the original building used for Sunday school classes. Meetings and a fellowship hall. That building still is at the center of the church.

In 1987, a committee for new development spearheaded remodeling in the gathering area and Luther Hall complex, along with major renovations to the old school building now known as Gero hall. These facilities were dedicated on April 28, 1991. In January 2001, a long range planning committee reviewed programs and facilities, leading to the demolition of a nearby house the church had purchased to expand parking, and then on May 21, 2006, a $1.5 million worship center was dedicated.

“This congregation is very warm and welcoming and open to trying new things,” said Rev. Webb in describing the community he has been serving for more than a decade now. “They are very committed in their faith and are very outreach oriented.” He said they have worked on projects such as the Promise Project for homeless kids, Habitat for Humanity, and conducted Alzheimers Association walks. For five years, they worked jointly with Emmanuel Lutheran’s “Journey Through Bethlehem” each Christmas. “They’re always willing to share their faith, resources, time and energy.”
“Not too long ago there was a consideration to move to a new property on Occidental,” said June, “But the congregation said, ‘No. This is our corner. This is home. This is where it all started.”

“50 years is a long time,” said Betty. But she is encouraged in looking toward Gloria Dei’s continued future. “Now we are having lots of babies in the congregation.”