On Sunday, November18, members of Concordia Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids celebrated the parish's 50th anniversary, ending a year-long observance of the special milestone.
The congregation kicked off the celebration in November 2006 by formally adopting lay missionaries, Jon and Heidi Heisterkamp, who were preparing to leave for Panama in January 2007. The congregation flew the Heisterkamps to Cedar Rapids so members could meet them and learn about their work.
Sponsoring the Heisterkamps was the main focus of the congregation's anniversary celebration, although parishioners observed the anniversary in many other ways throughout the year. Reverend Jerry Doellinger assembled a 50th anniversary committee to lead the congregation's celebration. The committee settled on the theme, "Concordia Lutheran Church: Built for Eternity, Est. 1957" and then set about planning several events that were designed to give thanks to God for all the blessings of the past 50 years and to show gratitude to charter members who took on the daunting task of beginning a new church.
- A service led by Rev. Mark Gefaller, a spiritual son of Concordia.
- A visit by Gary Thiess, Mission Counselor for the Lutheran Chruch Missouri Synod.
- Introduced an original hymn: music composed by Ryan Loftsgaarden, member of Concordia, with words written by Rev. Paul Doellinger, brother of Concordia's Pastor Doellinger.
- Recognized charter members of the congregation during a worship service.
- Invited past confirmands to return for special outdoor worship service followed by church picnic.
- Invited Concordia's first residential pastor, the Rev. Walter Marth, now a resident of Washington state, who returned to Cedar Rapids to lead a worship service.
- Congregational photo (formation of "50")
- Published 50th Anniversary Picture Directory, with more than 90% participation by congregation.
- Designed and sold 50th Anniversary T-shirts with portion of proceeds set aside for adopted missionaries. Members wore the shirts to all the special observances.
- Wrapped up the year by inviting Rev. Paul Scheidt, pastor at Concordia for 34 years, to preach the sermon at the November 18 service, almost 50 years to the date that Concordia was begun. Congregational meal followed in newly remodeled Fellowship Hall.
At all the special services, free will donations were collected for the Heisterkamps. The committee set a goal of collecting $5,000 by the end of the year. As of this writing, almost $4,000 has been generously donated and there is still a month-and-a-half to go before the year ends.
