With

nostalgia, music, and-of course-food, members

of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church will celebrate a

quarter century of service to Peachtree City and the

surrounding community.

In 1974,

leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

asked 28-year-old John Weber, an Iowa native then serving

a Wisconsin parish, to move his young family to Fayette

County, Ga. to develop a Lutheran congregation.

Weber has

often related how the one thing he knew he never wanted

to be was a mission developer, and the one place he never

wanted to be was in the Deep South.

So here he

was.

Weber went

door to door, meeting the community, often explaining

Lutheran tenets to people who had never heard of the

historic Protestant denomination. In a population of

about 6,000, the young pastor with the black mustache and

gold incisor-who was also a volunteer

firefighter-soon became a familiar figure.

The

church's name was chosen, and the first service held on

Dec. 1 at Glenloch Recreation Center with its

cartoon-mural Loch Ness monster overseeing the gathering

of 80 worshippers. The official organization of Christ

Our Shepherd took place on June 8, 1975, with the names

of 97 adults and 62 children on its charter.

The

congregation called Weber to be its first pastor, and he

serves to this date. His wife Ginnie is a nurse in the

critical care neonatal unit of Atlanta Medical Center.

The Webers' daughter Britt is a Fayette County teacher,

and their son Brent is married and the father of the

Webers' two grandsons.

Early on

the church purchased property for its first building at

Peachtree Parkway and Ga. Highway 54. Dedicated in June,

1978, that structure was expanded in 1987 and a pipe

organ installed. The present facility was completed in

December, 1998.

Today

Christ Our Shepherd has more than 1,600 confirmed members

and an average Sunday attendance of nearly 800

worshipping in four weekend services. The congregation

has two full-time pastors, Weber and Rev. Miriam Beecher,

and a staff which includes full-time directors of music

and youth activities.

The

congregation also participates in the internship program

of Lutheran Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C.,

providing on-the-job training to second-year seminarians.

In addition, the church houses Christ Our Shepherd

Lutheran Preschool, with 80 students enrolled for next

fall and a staff of 11, plus Director Bonnie Kent.

Don Ethier,

25th Anniversary Committee chairman, says a

"birthday" dinner (requiring advanced

reservations) will open the weekend celebration June 17,

with special speakers who will include Rev. Eleanor

Russey of Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Rincon, Ga. Russey

was Christ our Shepherd's first associate pastor from

1989 to 1997.

On Sunday,

June 18, the community is invited to join the

congregation for worship services of celebration at 8:30

and 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Music will include a hymn written

for the occasion by Director of Music David Beecher, and

Darleen Krautwurst, administrator in the office of the

Southeastern Synod, will be guest preacher.

A service

of renewal of wedding vows will follow each morning

worship service, Ethier said, adding that reservations

are requested.

The

committee is also preparing a cookbook with about 600

recipes by members of the congregation. Now at the

printer's, the book will be ready for holiday purchase,

Ethier said.

Other items

to commemorate the anniversary, such as Christmas

ornaments, license plates, and T-shirts bearing the

church's new shepherd logo, are available for purchase in

the narthex. Proceeds will help defray expenses of the

celebration, and will also help send young people to

attend the ELCA's National Youth Gathering later this

summer in St. Louis.

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