Our Beginning
With the expansion of the city of Milwaukee to the northwest in the forties and early fifties, the Mission Board of the Southeastern Wisconsin District of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin and Other States took steps to establish a mission church for families moving into the area. A canvass was made of the area in April 1951 by our Seminary students, and in May, Rev. William Fischer was assigned the call to serve as pastor to start a mission in this area.
In the summer of 1951, a suitable site was selected and purchased. In February 1952, a chapel (which had first been built during World War I as a chapel at Camp McCoy and was later moved to Oconomowoc, WI to serve as St. Matthew’s) was moved, complete with furnishings, and erected here. Our first worship service was held on Easter Sunday, 1952. Redemption Lutheran Church was officially organized on November 22, 1952.
PASTORS OF OUR CHURCH
- William Fischer 1952 – 1966
- Daniel Hentscher 1966 – 1967
- Wilbert Gawrisch 1967-68 & 1977
- Keith Kruck 1968 – 1977
- Cleone Weigand 1977 – 1998
- Robert Wendland 1998 – 2003
- Christian Winkel 2003 – Present
The first confirmation class was assembled during the fall of 1951 in the home of Mr. & Mrs Rudolph Tamsen. Sunday School classes started in March of 1952 in the Chapel. In September 1953, seventeen children from our church were bussed to Calvary School, Thiensville. In September 1955, our children attended Salem. Mr. Donald Holzhueter was assigned to Redemption in September of 1955 to serve as our first prinicpal. With the aid of the North Trinity congregation, ground breaking for our new school was in April 1957. The new building was dedicated on November 24, 1957.
By God’s grace we were self-supporting in September 1963. Pastor William Fisher accepted the call to serve our Synod and was replaced in January 1967 by Pastor Daniel Hentscher. Pastor Keith Kruck accepted our call in spring of 1968 and served the Lord in our midst for eight and one half years. Donald Holzhueter, School Principal, accepted a call to serve a congregation in Michigan and was replaced in September 1969 by Dale Stelter.
Our next major building project was undertaken when in April of 1971, the voters decided to construct a new church. Ground breaking was on March 25, 1973. The corner stone was set in place December 9, 1973, and our new building was dedicated on May 5, 1974. In February 1977, Professor Wilbert R. Gawrisch was called to serve as our vacancy pastor, since Pastor Kruck accepted a call to serve Christ the Lord in Clearwater, FL. This was not the first time Professor Gawrisch served Redemption as its vacancy pastor. He also served from October 1967 until May 1968.
In December 1977, Pastor Cleone Weigand became Redemption’s fourth pastor. Also in 1977 Gary Heiman was called to replace Mr. Dale Stelter. Pastor Weigand served until his semi-retirement in July 1998. He was on hand to aid in the ordination and installation of Pastor Robert Wendland, who was assigned the call upon his graduation from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.