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History
A History of Resurrection Lutheran Church
In 1956 the Board of American Missions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America called on the Reverend Frederick Spreen
to be the Mission Developer of a new congregation in the Hamilton Square area.
Pastor Spreen walked the neighborhood knocking on doors and inviting all to
become part of this new church family. With statistics in hand Pastor Spreen
returned to the Board of American Missions and received approval to form a new
congregation. Worship services were first held at the Grange Hall and on March
30, 1958 a formal organizational service was held at the Sayen School.
Resurrection became an official congregation of the New Jersey Synod. In April
1957 the church purchased a parsonage at 16 Tekening Way. In July 1958 ground
was broken for a sanctuary and Sunday School room.
Pastor Spreen oversaw the development of programs that included - Luther League,
Singles and Doubles Club, a music program that included an adult choir, a
children’s choir, motion choir, and men’s choir, women’s organizations and an
educational program that met the needs of the adults and children.
On January 1, 1972 Pastor Spreen accepted a call from St. Paul’s Church in
Elizabeth, New Jersey.
On June 20, 1972 the congregation celebrated the installation of its’ second
Pastor, the Reverend Michael Wuchter. Pastor Wuchter was still a student in Mt.
Airy Seminary in Philadelphia when he received the call to serve us. Three of
our members rented a U-Haul to move Pastor and his wife Shirley to our area.
Pastor set his sights on continued growth in all areas especially the
development of an expansion plan. Pastor, and his wife Shirley, won the hearts
of the congregation. Both were sensitive, loving, caring, and sharing people.
Shirley was active in the women’s organizations and the choir. The Wuchters
served the congregation for seven years and in 1979 Pastor accepted a call as
Pastor to the University at Wittenberg.
In June 1980 the Pastor Beverly Harding was installed as our third pastor.
Pastor Beverly’s stay was short, but in that brief period of time, we saw many
wonderful things happen. She was extremely creative and began programs and
traditions that still remain today.
A pastoral vacancy is always traumatic for any congregation. However, we had the
good fortune of having a dedicated interim pastor - The Reverend Thomas Warme.
During his one year stay a very warm bond of friendship developed. He was an
army chaplain at Fort Monmouth in Red Bank and commuted via motorcycle. If
Christ rode a donkey, His 20th century disciples could ride a Harley!. Our time
together was fruitful and good, but his leaving was, again, very painful.
Our vacancy was filled when the congregation called Pastor Louis A. Smith (a
campus minister and theologian) from Eau Claire, Wisconsin to be our next
pastor. During the time Pastor Smith served our church he gave us a new insight
into the rites of baptism and communion. We enjoyed many different kinds of
“dinners” and worship services and one might say, “things changed weekly”. In
November 1986 Pastor Smith resigned to accept a position in Namibia, South
Africa. Once again the church, coping with the trauma of another pastoral
vacancy, set out to search for a new spiritual leader.
A new call committee was named and within six months, the Reverend Russell C.
Gromest, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Hillsborough, was presented to the
council for their approval. On June 21, 1987 Pastor Gromest led the worship
service, was introduced to the congregation at the special meeting held that
day, and was asked if he would accept the call. (This same day the congregation
had new pews in which to sit - BEGONE METAL FOLDING CHAIRS! - a good omen).
Pastor, his wife Judy, and their son Alan live in their own home in Hamilton
Township. The Gromests also have a married daughter, Dawn Swann, and two
grandchildren. With Pastor Gromest leading the way, we have seen monumental
changes. Fellowship Hall has added much needed office, meeting, nursery, and
Sunday School space. A new kitchen provides us with the opportunity to have
suppers and receptions with relative ease. In 1995 a new, Saturday evening
contemporary “Celebrate Service” was developed to meet the spiritual needs of
our congregation and the community. A second Sunday Worship Service was added in
2002 to alleviate the crowding of a membership which had grown by over 30%
during Pastor Gromest’s tenure.
In October 2003 Pastor Gromest announced to the council that he would be
retiring in March of 2004. A call committee was established at that time. The
call committee recommended Seminarian Charles Ferreri to the council for their
approval. On May 16th 2004, Charles Ferreri led the worship service, was
introduced to the congregation and who voted to call him as the pastor of
Resurrection. He accepted the call on that day. The following week Pastor
Ferreri graduated from the Philadelphia Lutheran Theological Seminary. He began
serving as Pastor on June 12th 2004, and was ordained on June 26th.
Under Pastor Ferreri’s leadership the congregation has experienced significant
spiritual growth, as worship attendance has increased by 17% in the first 2 ½
years of his tenure. Additionally, the congregation has seen growth in its
various ministries that has placed added demands on the building facilities.
The growing demand of the ministries has led the congregation to examine the
current facilities to determine what will be needed to support our expanding
ministries. The congregation voted on January 16, 2006, to engage the architect
firm of Sincox and Associates to help us in that area. A Master Plan was
developed and a capital campaign company was hired in 2007 to assess the
feasibility of the Master Plan. The Master Plan was revised and a Capital
Campaign to implement the revised Master Plan was kicked off on January,
2008.
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