Serving the Region since 1975

Our Shepherd Lutheran Church is proud to be a part of the cultural fabric of Northwest Indiana - a community we’ve been privileged to love and serve since 1975.

Early Exploratory Work & Our Church’s Founding (1974-1976)  

In October of 1974, Pastor Wayne Mueller, who was serving at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crete, IL, wrote a letter to the Southeastern Wisconsin District Mission Board of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). In that letter, Pastor Mueller urged the district’s Board of Home Missions to establish a ‘preaching station’ in the Merrillville area.     

On July 13, 1975, the WELS held its first exploratory worship service in the Region; that service was held at the Jonas Salk Elementary School in Merrillville, IN - and there were 34 people in attendance. That grade school served as the temporary home of this new mission congregation while exploratory work continued. By November of 1975, the WELS Board of Home Missions granted ‘Mission Status’ to this congregation.         

On December 7, 1975, that congregation, still unnamed at the time, held their first official congregational meeting. The temporary officers elected were Ben Smith, Dave Runholt, and Dave Brownlee as the church’s president, treasurer, and secretary.         

In January of 1976, the congregation began holding worship services at the Chapel of Peace United Church of Christ in Merrillville. The pastor tasked with overseeing the exploratory work was Pastor Thomas Liesener, who was serving in Granger, IN at the time. Each week, he commuted the 75 miles to conduct worship service and also do visitations.

That same month, the congregation held a meeting to choose a name for this new mission church – the two leading choices being ‘Faith’ or ‘Our Shepherd’. By majority vote, the name ‘Our Shepherd’ was chosen, in reference to Jesus, our Good Shepherd (John 10). A few months later on March 10, 1976, the congregation’s draft of its constitution received synod approval. After that approval, the following members were elected as officers of Our Shepherd’s first church council: Ben Smith, President; Dave Brownlee, Secretary; Ken Campbell, Treasurer and Financial Secretary; Dave Anderson, Chairman of the Board of Elders; Don Naujock, Chairman of the Board of Evangelism; Ron Klug, Chairman of the Board of Trustees; Dave Runholt, Chairman of the Board of Stewardship.        

During this time, the congregation requested from the WELS permission to call a permanent pastor, to look for land for a permanent church home, and build a relocatable chapel after land was purchased. When the WELS Board of Home Missions met in May of 1976, all three of those requests were granted. Richard H. Schleicher, a recent Seminary graduate of the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, was assigned to serve at Our Shepherd, and on July 18, 1976, Pastor Schleicher was installed as Our Shepherd’s first resident pastor.

Land Acquisition & Dedication of the Chapel (1976-1978)

While awaiting the arrival of their pastor, the congregation had been actively searching for land on which they could station their portable chapel. After study of eight possible sites, five were submitted to the District Mission Board for their evaluation. After a survey of the sites was conducted by the District Mission Board and General Board Officials in November of 1976, approval was given to Our Shepherd to present an offer of purchase to developer Ken Catlow for five acres of land in Crown Point at 93rd Avenue and the newly built Merrillville Road. The offer of $75,000 to purchase the five acres was accepted, with the purchase being complete on January 20, 1977.         

Even before the congregation had a building, they were regularly gathering for weekly Bible studies at the house of founding members Gordon and Dolores Graper. Ronald Klug owned a Ford tractor and would bring it to the church grounds to level out the five acres. Ron spent countless hours at the church property; members recalled that, if there was work to be done, you could count on Ron Klug being there. Sandy Runholt was known for her hospitality towards church visitors – even inviting them over to her home. Founding members, David and Joanne Brownlee, recalled how the church at that time felt like one big family - and everyone was working hard toward a common goal: having a physical space for this Christian community to call their own – all for gospel ministry in Northwest Indiana.        

Additional approval and funding was received by Our Shepherd from the WELS District Mission Board for the construction of a new parsonage and relocatable chapel. The Building Committee for both the parsonage and the chapel were the following members: Ronald Klug, Chairman; Donald Naujock; Lawrence Orth; Monty Kuxhaus; Ben Smith; Pastor Schleicher. On October 16, 1977, the church broke ground for both the parsonage and the chapel. By July of 1978, Richard Schleicher and his wife Dorothy had moved into the parsonage.         

The portable chapel, built in Wisconsin, was subsequently delivered. On October 22, 1978, work was completed to the point that the congregation was able to worship in the portable chapel; on the morning of that same day, the congregation held a private dedication of both the parsonage and the modular chapel. A formal dedication was held on November 5, 1978 - which was Our Shepherd’s first public worship service. There were 62 worshippers in attendance. Regular worship services were held in the chapel. The altar furniture was donated by the church of Sandy Runholt’s brother. Our Shepherd’s organ was also donated as well. Joanne Brownlee regularly played the organ for services. Joanne’s husband, Dave Brownlee, served as a Sunday school teacher for the older children. Joanne and her husband, Dave, were also some of the initial members of Our Shepherd’s choir; the other members included: Coleen Brownlee, Chris Brownlee, Kathy Smith, Lee Ann Naujock, Dot Schleicher, Pastor Schleicher, Jack Feare, and Dave Runholt. “When you’re a small church,” Joanne recalls, “everyone has to wear many hats!”

Building & Dedication of the Sanctuary (1978-1982)

At the time of land purchase, an agreement was signed with Mr. Catlow, the developer, that the portable chapel was needed for only 3.5 years, after which a permanent building would be constructed. With no time to waste, a Building Committee for the sanctuary was formed – consisting of members Dave Brownlee, Don Naujock, Monty Kuxhaus, and Pastor Schleicher’s successor, Pastor Donald Thompson. On October 12, 1980, planning funds were requested from the District Mission Board. Approval to hire an architect and develop construction plans was granted on March of 1981. The following June, Holland & Steed Architects of Deerfield, IL were contacted to be the architects of the building project; John D. Holland was the chief architect. After surveying the congregation, Our Shepherd’s Building Committee began meeting with John Holland to design the sanctuary.        

On September 22, 1981, the Board for Home Missions approved a $201,497 funding for the building project, and Our Shepherd’s Building Committee began working on drawings. By 1982, the church was ready for bids. Of the four general contractors who bid on the new church building, it was the Hamstra Builders of Wheatfield, IN who were awarded the contract to build Our Shepherd’s sanctuary. They broke ground on May 23, 1982.        

On November 21, 1982, Our Shepherd’s 3,700-square-foot worship and education facility was dedicated with two services: a celebration service at 9:00am (116 were in attendance) and the dedication service at 3:00pm (254 were in attendance). Pastor Thomas Liesner and Pastor Richard Schleicher returned as guest speakers for the services - Pastor Liesner guest preaching for the morning celebration, and Pastor Schleicher preaching at the afternoon dedication. The Post-Tribune covered the dedication in their December 4th edition, with the headline “New Hub Church Dedicated”.

Growing (1983-1991)

During these years, outreach and evangelism were an evident priority in Our Shepherd’s ministry. The church invested in developing newspaper ads, bulletins, letters and invitations. Under the leadership of Pastor James Luedtke, the church frequently canvassed the community. The congregation understood that, while God ultimately is the one who grows his Church, we are nevertheless called to work hard and faithfully. In 1988, Our Shepherd’s Evangelism Chairman at the time, Rich Gilles, impressed upon the church the importance of gospel outreach; not only that, but under Rich Gilles’ leadership, the congregation conducted a community analysis to determine the community makeup, the community’s perceived needs, and the target area in which the church would concentrate its outreach efforts. Evangelism efforts focused on a 3-5 mile radius of the church.        

As the church grew, it retained its family feel. During this time, the church really prioritized the cultivation of relationships across the church’s membership. One way they accomplished this was through regular cottage meetings, where multiple smaller meetings were offered at members’ homes. Another example was a wide array of meal-based events. For example, on Mother’s Day in 1988, the men of the congregation fixed up a breakfast for the congregation to enjoy at 7:30am prior to the service. Everyone who came to church that day enjoyed a heart breakfast of ham, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, home-baked rolls, doughnuts, coffee, orange juice, and milk. The Mother’s Day breakfast was an Our Shepherd tradition that persisted even into the 1990s.        

By the start of 1989, the congregation had grown to 147 souls. The congregation was now fully self-sufficient – but the church’s culture was unwilling to let that self-sufficiency impede its ministry planning, stewardship, giving, and evangelism efforts. In his State of the Congregation letter of January of 1989, Pastor Luedtke encouraged the congregation, saying, “When everyone uses the ability God gives, the job gets done…Willingness to serve, and pitching in to do whatever we do best helps build up the body of Christ.” By September of 1991, the church’s size prompted the incorporation of a second Sunday worship service. First service was at 8am, followed by 9:30am Sunday School & Bible Class, followed by the second service at 10:45am. In October of 1991, the church ordered its first pews to be built and installed within the sanctuary. By January of 1992, the church had grown to 169 souls.

LITTLE LAMBS PREschool & family education wing (1992-2007)

The turn of the decade marked the beginning of a season of growth pains, hardship, and adversity for the congregation. But the church banded together, echoing the words of the Apostle Paul: “We boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope (Romans 5:3-5).” As Our Shepherd’s next pastor, Peter Goetsch, would later say, “Adversity is God’s university.” When a family matter preoccupied much of Pastor Luedtke’s time, members of the congregation (such as the head elder at the time, Dan Thone) rose to the occasion to help bear Pastor Luedtke’s responsibilities.        

In May of 1992, the potential of a preschool at Our Shepherd was being explored. By June of that same year, a formal proposal for launching a preschool was presented to the congregation – with the expressed goal of starting Tuesday, September 8, 1992. Phase 1 (the first year) would entail a two-day per week nursery program for children who would start kindergarten in two years’ time; Phase 2 (to begin in 1993), would entail a three-day per week pre-kindergarten program for those one year from starting kindergarten. With both phases in place, the teachers would be conducting classes five days a week; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday would be pre-kindergarten; Tuesday and Thursday, the nursery. The curriculum would be distinctly Christian and prepare kids for kindergarten. The proposed name for the preschool was “Our Little Lambs” (also called “Little Lambs Preschool”). By September of 1992, the preschool began with teachers Barbara Thone and Rebecca Hatke. Both women had degrees in education (and were mothers of little ones at the time). The preschool gradually expanded to three classes including kindergarten.         

In June of 1993, Pastor James Luedtke’s service as Our Shepherd’s pastor came to a close; the following month, Pastor Peter Goetsch was installed as Our Shepherd’s fourth pastor. Into the ‘90s, youth ministry remained a focus for the church. The congregation regularly sent teens and chaperones to the WELS Youth Rally. The church’s youth group met often, Sunday School continued throughout the years, and the church annually held a Vacation Bible School. In 1997, the church was looking to better integrate the preschool into the church’s overall mission. As a means of better meeting the needs of youth discipleship, a building fund drive was launched in 1999 to add an educational wing.         

In January of 2001, Pastor Peter Goetsch’s service as pastor came to a close; after a six-month vacancy, Our Shepherd installed their fifth pastor, Pastor Joseph Schlawin.         

On July 18, 2006, Our Shepherd received her building permit to dig and pour the foundation for the Family Education Wing. Under the direction of Ralph Gurnsey, Pastor Schlawin, and Everett Jung, the congregation banded together to do the work of building this addition themselves. Other members, such as John Hansen, Mike Billy, and Rich Gilles, assisted in all the framing and roofing of the addition. On Sunday, October 28th 2007, the congregation celebrated a belated 25th anniversary service - which marked 25 years after the building of the sanctuary in 1982. That service doubled as a dedication service for the new Family Education wing. Pastor Rich Schleicher was the guest speaker that afternoon. On that day, the church laid the cornerstone for the new Family Education addition. The cornerstone was set in place by Ralph Guernsey, who was the head of the addition’s building committee. That addition was immediately put to good use by the church’s Sunday School. The kids had fun learning from Sunday School teachers like Elaine French and Joyce Jung.

Property enhancements (2008-2019)

Pastor Schlawin was widely known for his love of woodworking and construction, and frequently employed those gifts to help others. In January 2008, Pastor Schlawin was asked by the WELS Committee on Relief to serve as a project manager in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A year later, he, along with Everett Jung and John Hansen, oversaw the replacement of the large shed on the west end of the property. Under their mentorship, church members came together to learn a bit about pouring concrete, house framing, and basic electrical installation. In 2011, bids were taken for the installation of the church’s steeple. In June of that year, the steeple was purchased, and work on a steel mounting fixture was prepared. On July 15, 2011, the church’s steeple was installed.        

Though they had grown smaller in size, the congregation busily committed to the work of the church however they could. Under the leadership of Evangelism Chairman, Vernon French, the congregation would annually engage in Christmas caroling and playing Bingo at local retirement homes, such as Golden Living, Chicagoland Christian, and Spring Mill. In May of 2016, members of Our Shepherd added a 12’x 12’ exterior deck to the parsonage. In June of 2018 through June of 2019, a full remodel and update to the church parsonage was conducted under the leadership of Our Shepherd member, Keith Pounders.

OUr present moment (2019-Today)

This period of Our Shepherd’s history is presently being written before our eyes. It’s a period of rediscovering some things we had lost – and reappreciating some things we have always had. It’s a period of significant change in our philosophy of ministry – while retaining the changeless truths of Holy Scripture. It’s a period of radically thinking outside the box – while resting inside the One who will always be our Rock and our Redeemer. It’s a period of stepping outside our comfort zone – while firmly planting our feet on Christ, who alone is our comfort and the unyielding ground beneath us. It’s a period of recapturing the zeal exhibited by our forebears – and rededicating ourselves to carrying out Christ’s great commission.        

By God’s grace, may this chapter of our church’s history be all about Christ and his gospel. May we not merely listen to the Word of God – but do what it says (James 1:22). May Christ and his gospel always be the why behind what we do. May we clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12). May the free and full forgiveness that is ours in Christ flow freely within this church. May our church be “all things to all people” in both word and deed – so that “by all possible means [we] might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22, 23). May we always walk in the light of the LORD. Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastors of Our Shepherd

• Pastor Wayne Mueller served as the initial exploratory pastor

• Pastor Thomas Liesener (1975-1976) was in charge of exploratory work from Granger (South Bend) Indiana

• Pastor Richard H. Schleicher (Jul 18, 1976 - Jan 20, 1980) served as Our Shepherd’s first resident pastor

• Pastor Armin H. Schultz (Febr 3, 1980 - Apr 13, 1980) served as a vacancy pastor

• Pastor John Zickuhr (Apr 13, 1980 - May 25, 1980) served as a vacancy pastor

• Pastor Donald L. Thompson (May 25, 1980 - Jun 1986) served as Our Shepherd’s second resident pastor

• Pastor David Witte (Jun 1986 - Nov 1986) served as a vacancy pastor

• Pastor Robert Pasbrig (Jun 1986 - Nov 1986) served as a vacancy pastor

• Pastor James W. Luedtke (Nov 23, 1986 - Jun 6, 1993) served as Our Shepherd’s third resident pastor

• Pastor Peter W. Goetsch (Jul 11, 1993 - Jan 21, 2001) served as Our Shepherd’s fourth resident pastor

• Pastor Don Schultz (Jan 21, 2001 - Jul 22, 2001) served as a vacancy pastor

• Pastor Joseph R. Schlawin (Jul 22, 2001 - Jun 1, 2018) served as Our Shepherd’s fifth resident pastor

• Pastors Lon Keuther, Michael Schneider & Paul Micheel (Jun 8, 2018 -  Jul 1, 2019) served as vacancy pastors

• Pastor Charles Papenfuss (Sept 2018 - Jan 2019) served as a vacancy pastor

• Pastor Harlyn Kushel (Feb 2019 - Jun 2019) served as a vacancy pastor

• Pastor Samuel Jeske (July 7, 2019 - Present) serves as Our Shepherd’s sixth resident pastor