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In some ways you could say that Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church is unique. We have two churches, but one name. We hold worship in two locations, but are one congregation. That is because we are not separate, but one.
In order to see how we got here, we need to go back a number of decades.
A Wisconsin Synod presence in the Cataract and Black River Falls area of Wisconsin goes all the way back to 1861. At that time German immigrants throughout Monroe and Jackson Counties were being served in the towns of Burr Oak and Black River Falls. In 1878, this preaching circuit was expanded to include Printz Creek (which is rural Cataract).
For the next 18 years, this is the way the believers in the area were served. Then in 1896, Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church was established at Printz Creek, and in 1897, a new church building was constructed.
In August of 1919 that church building was struck by lightning, completely destroying the building. At that time some members wanted to move the church into Cataract proper. Those members bought a vacant church and in 1920 formed a congregation by the name of St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church. The rest of the congregation wished to remain at the current site and rebuild the church, which they did. In 1923, St. Paul’s and Friedens called their first shared resident pastor. The two congregations co-existed as such until 2006.
In 2006, the congregations realized that there was a great need to reach out to the city of Black River Falls where there had not been a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) influence since the late 1800’s. In order to accomplish this, the two congregations merged to form Faith Ev. Lutheran Church. This allowed their pastor to hold a service in Cataract and a service in Black River Falls.
Worship in Black River Falls began in June of 2007 at the Black River Falls High School Library. In the summer of 2009 a building committee was formed to start planning for a church building in Black River Falls, and in May of 2011, ground was broken on a 10,000+ sq. ft. worship facility.
On December 11, 2011, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church was dedicated to the glory of God and the salvation of man.
So now we have two buildings; but we are one church. We worship in two locations; but we are one congregation. People regularly gather at two different times in two different places; but we are one. We rejoice in our fellowship and cherish our unity as the same gracious God who has saved us through the life, death and resurrection of his Son Jesus is proclaimed each week from each church.
Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church is a part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod or WELS. The WELS is a church body with congregations in all fifty states and missionaries in 25 countries.
We are a Christ Preaching Church! We believe, teach and confess that Jesus is God’s own Son, who came into the world to be the Savior of all people so that through his sufferings, death and resurrection, we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
We Are A Bible Teaching Church! We believe and teach that the Bible is the true and divinely inspired Word of God, the sole authority for Christian faith and life.
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