History of Peace Lutheran Church

Peace Lutheran Church officially began its existence the second Sunday of January, 1982, but the planning began long before at Hope Lutheran Church of Bozeman.  Several of the members of Hope Lutheran Church lived in the Belgrade area and together with the pastor of Hope felt a strong sense of need where these people lived. The members of Hope showed their faith in a future congregation in Belgrade by purchasing land, eventually for a new building for the new congregation.

From January 1982 until December 1982, the congregation met at the Belgrade Village Building. From December 1982 until January 1986, the meeting place was the basement of Valley Bank. The Peace Lutheran congregation met at the Catholic Church from January 1986 until September 1987. Mission Builders assisted congregational members in building Peace Lutheran Church. They were Caroll and JoAnn Hill, Brookings, SD; Bill and Mildred Hamann, LeMars, IA; Melford and Betty Johnson, Kenmare, ND; Wilbert and Rowena Boges, Blanco, TX; and Rueben Mayer, Gackle, ND.

 

Pastors of Peace

Pastor Herb Knutsen ~ January 1982 – October 1985

Pastor Joseph Belgum ~ February 1986 – July 1986

Intern Pastor Galen Sylvester ~ July 1986 – July 1987

Intern Pastor Bruce Rimmereld ~ September 1987 – August 1988

Intern Pastor Mark Reiner ~ September 1988 – August 1989

Pastor Greg Holler-Dinsmore ~ September 1989 – June 1994

Pastor William Duffey ~ August 1994 – March 2014

Pastor Robert Coughlin ~ August 2011 – Present

Pastor Jeff Redlin ~ July 2014 – 2017

Pastor Andrew Young ~ November 2018 – Present

 

Notable Dates at Peace

January 10, 1982 ~ First Service

May 3, 1987 ~ Groundbreaking Ceremony

May 16, 1987 ~ Excavation begins

September 13, 1987 ~ First service in the new building

October 18, 1987 ~ Dedication of the new building

June 1992 ~ Groundbreaking of building addition

May 23, 1993 ~ Dedication of the building addition

September 1993 ~ Peace KinderKare daycare held at Peace

October 1997 ~ 10th anniversary of the building

December 2005 ~ Mortgage paid in full

September 1998 – LadyBug Preschool started at Peace

August 2007 ~ Celebration of 25 years as a congregation and 20 years in the current building

February 21, 2010 ~ severed ties with ELCA and joined LCMC