Church History

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church was started in 1986 when individuals in the central Buchanan County area felt there was a need for a Missouri-Synod Church in the area. Orginally called Hope Lutheran Church, Pastors Mark Halverson of Peace Lutheran Church in Oelwein and Randall Weinkauf of St. Peters Lutheran in Westgate conducted worship services in the basement of Immanuel Lutheran Church. One-Hundred and One people attended the first service. During the first few years, several area pastors took turns conducting our services.

The Congregation moved to its downtown location on April 2, 1987. On July 19, 1987, the church inducted Vicar Donald A. Fehlauer as its first interim pastor. He would serve the congregation for a year. He was then replaced by Vicar Dan Myers and later on Vicar Marvin Moss served the congregation.

Our Redeemer received its Congregational Charter from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on October 22, 1989 during a special 4:00 p.m. service. The church received its first ordained Pastor, Reverend Gary Griffin, on August 5, 1990. Pastor Griffin served the congregation faithfully for over five years before accepting a call to a church in Missouri. Pastor Mark B. Beesley, was installed on March 3, 1996 and served as our pastor until July 17, 2005. While Pastor Beesley was here, he helped plan and oversaw the building of our new church at 120 17th Ave. NE here in Independence. We had our first service in our new church on August 28, 2005 and dedicated the church on November 20, 2005. Our present Pastor, Randall Russell was installed on June 25, 2006.

We give thanks to the Almighty God who has blessed Our Redeemer with faithful servants and people. The Lord is at work in our midst accomplishing His divine will through the Word and Sacraments. We look forward to His continued leadership as we work toward the future.