Most of the information included in this history up until 2004 was taken from Messiah's 50th anniversary book compiled by Messiah member Charles Henderson.
1954-55
Messiah Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas, had its beginning with a dream of a group of worshipping members of two other Austin churches – First English and St. Martin's. The new congregation was to be a part of the United Lutheran Church in America. Research was done to see which areas of Austin were growing rapidly and it was determined that the new congregation would be located in northeast Austin where many of these members already lived. The yet un-named congregation began meeting in Maplewood Elementary School and the first service was held on Sunday, February 28, 1954 with 35 persons present. The Rev. Richard C. Schneider was the first supply pastor. In September 1954, the Rev. G. C. Leonard became the supply pastor, followed by the Rev. David F. Cooper who began serving on January 1, 1955. Rev. Cooper came under call of the Board of American Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America as the full-time mission developer.
1955-62
During 1955, the parsonage was built at 1601 Ridgemont and a two-acre building site at 5701 Cameron Road was purchased. Sunday school was organized and auxiliary groups were formed. On Easter Sunday, April 10, 1955, Messiah Lutheran Church was officially organized with 68 charter members. Soon after its organization, the congregation began holding worship services and Sunday School at Harris Elementary School. Items needed for worship were transported every Sunday from storage at the parsonage to the school's cafeteria and then back to storage. Many of the items, including an adjustable podium, were hand-crafted by Paul Klaerner, one of the charter members.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in June of 1957 for the first facility to be built on Cameron Road consisting of a sanctuary and a four-room building for classrooms with a nursery connected by a covered walkway. The original church office was located in the sanctuary in the area now know as the robing room. Folding wooden partitions were used to divide some of the space into classrooms. Paul Klaerner designed and built the forms for the decorative concrete blocks found on the east and west end of the sanctuary.
The sanctuary was completed in December 1957, just in time for Christmas Eve services. The parking lot was gravel and lighted with used poles and fittings from the surplus salvage yard at Bergstrom Air Force Base. Support was granted to this young congregation in the form of pastoral salary assistance from the St. Paul's Lutheran Parish, consisting of the Salem and St. Paul's Lutheran Churches of York, Pennsylvania.
Throughout these early years, the congregation, led by Pastor Cooper, organized choir programs, conducted vacation bible school, sponsored a Boy Scout troop, started a youth program, women's organization and Brotherhood. Soon the classrooms were overflowing. Dr. Charles Pelphrey donated four portable metal buildings that were wired for electricity and gas heaters were installed.
After seven years of faithful service, Pastor Cooper resigned in January 1962 to accept a call to be pastor of St, Paul Lutheran Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Under his guidance, Messiah's membership had grown to over 400 baptized members.
1962-66
On November 1, 1962, the Rev. George E. Scheitlin began his call at Messiah as its second pastor. Additional space was needed for this growing congregation. Education programs continued to expand. Fellowship and other activities were held in the sanctuary, which at that time had folding chairs. A kitchen occupied the space where the present sacristy is located. For fellowship events a folding screen was used to separate the altar area from the rest of the space. Construction began on a two-story education building, which included classrooms, meeting rooms, church offices and a small kitchen at the end of a fellowship hall. Before completion of the building, Rev. Scheitlin resigned on April 30, 1965 to accept a call to the Board of Parish Education of the LCA in Philadelphia.
1966-69
The Rev. Denby Cain became the third pastor and assumed his duties on January 1, 1966. The new education/fellowship/office building was completed. The congregation continued to grow. Parking facilities were improved in 1968. Pastor Cain resigned to accept a call to Trinity Lutheran Church in Manlius, IL.
1969-72
On January 6, 1969, Rev. Neal R. Boese became the fourth pastor of Messiah Lutheran. During the next four years programs continued to expand. Fellowship nights were regularly held and the congregation became deeply involved in social ministry projects. The church's softball team won many trophies and the outdoor Christmas displays brought recognition for the church throughout the neighborhood and city. When the collection of trophies outgrew the storage space they were donated to the Austin State School for their student athletes. Messiah's desire for a new worship facility and additional educational--fellowship space resulted in extensive research and planning and a proposed capital fund. However, due to rising building costs and a weakening economy, the congregation felt it could not commit to this indebtedness and the building program was tabled. Pastor Boese resigned December 31, 1972 to accept a call to House of Prayer Lutheran Church, San Antonio, Texas.
1973-78
The Rev. Glendon R. Frank became the fifth pastor of Messiah on March 1, 1973. Programs were evaluated and expanded. Sanctuary pews were installed in the spring on 1974. In the fall of that year Messiah's Harvestfest was established. In the years that followed, with matching funds from Aid Association for Lutherans and Lutheran Brotherhood, along with sales from cookbooks by the Fellowship Committee, over $40,000 was raised for church improvements, equipment and benevolence. One of the benefits made possible through these activities was Messiah's contribution towards tuition for several seminary students who were members of the congregation.
A committee was formed to draw up plans for extensive remodeling of the auxiliary building, minor sanctuary remodeling and additional landscaping. During this remodeling, the church offices were moved to the classroom building behind the sanctuary. The offices are still there today. The fellowship hall became more and more in demand for use by the church and others.
Messiah began to experience a decline in membership as many families moved out of the city to the suburbs, or they transferred to churches which provided daycare and school facilities. In spite of this, the congregation started a Mothers' Morning Out which cared for 32 neighborhood children. Pastor Frank retired December 31, 1978, but he continued to minister to residents at Trinity Lutheran Home in Round Rock until his death.
1979-85
The Rev. Robert R. Neubauer, III was called to messiah on August 1, 1979, as its sixth pastor. The congregation celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 20, 1980. During this time Advent Lutheran Church, which had been chartered a few years earlier, was finding difficulty attracting new members. After several months of deliberations, Messiah Lutheran (of the Lutheran Church of America) and Advent Lutheran (of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church) voted to merge into a single congregation called Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church (LCA). The merger took place September 26, 1982 and brought 51 Advent members into the Messiah congregation. Of these were Belle Borth, Glenn Greenwood, Ruby Meschke, and Joyce Voelter, Pastor Neubauer preached his last sermon at Messiah on September 1, 1985, after accepting a call to Frederick Lutheran Church in the Virgin Islands.
1986-94
The Rev. M. Frederick Foutz, Jr. was called as Messiah's seventh pastor and was installed on March 16, 1986. Pastor Foutz preferred a housing allowance to living in the church parsonage, so the parsonage was first rented out, then sold in 1990. Part of the proceeds from the sale were invested in the ELCA's Mission Investment Fund. Under Pastor Foutz' leadership the congregation was revitalized, especially in regards to worship amd Sunday School. Christian education was reorganized and emphasized and physical repairs and renovations to the church facilities were completed. The council completed a long-range strategy plan and a stewardship program, allowing Messiah to take its place in the new Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Under Pastor Foutz's leadership, the congregation's strong liturgical worship style emerged which involved many lay worship leaders. After Pastor Foutz' retirement in 1994, he and his wife Marj continued to serve as active and vital members of the congregation until they moved to Oklahoma in 2007.
1995-2001
Messiah called as its eighth pastor, the Rev. Donald R. Just, in February 1995. Contemporary worship materials were included in services using the worship supplement "With One Voice." The Evangelism and Fellowship Committees renewed their efforts in the community. Messiah held its first "Walk Through Jerusalem", a Holy Week drama, and a successful "Discovery Weekend" was held for members to increase their spirituality and to discern the use of their gifts. Youth activities increased. An Aid Association for Lutherans was formed in 1995. Meals on Wheels started using the facilities as a distribution site and Messiah shared its buildings with a neighboring congregation for about 18 months while they built a new facility and relocated out of the neighborhood.
In cooperation with the Wartburg and Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago seminaries, Messiah was honored to serve as an Intern Training Congregation. Under Pastor Just's supervision, Messiah trained interns Steve Best and Lemae Higgs. These two interns added their names to the many seminarians who were either ordained at Messiah or who called Messiah their home church. Pastor Just resigned in January 2001 to take a position on the staff of the Division for Ministry, ELCA, Region 4.
2001-07
On October 15, 2001, Rev. Sandra Wilcox became Messiah's ninth pastor. Under her leadership Messiah participated in Transformational Ministry Team Training. Lay Eucharist Ministry was started. Canadian seminarian Jason Anderson did his internship here. In 2004, fellowship hall restrooms were renovated to be ADA compliant. New signs were put up on the property to improve visibility. The sanctuary curtains were removed and new dalle de vere stained glass windows were installed just in time for the church's 50th anniversary. The windows greatly improved the look of the building which was never intended to be the permanent sanctuary, but now is. The area between the sanctuary and the office building became a Prayer Garden designed by David Studtmann, son of Messiah members Rev. Martin and Ruth Studtmann. Messiah reached out to immigrants in the community with computer and bilingual classes and Messiah's Food Pantry expanded its efforts. Pastor Wilcox resigned in the summer of 2007.
2007-10
In September 2007, the Rev. Samuel Brannon became Messiah's Interim Pastor and a year later the congregation extended a call to him to serve as the congregation's tenth pastor. Pastor Brannon's call was 3/4 time, since he planned to be in the Texas National Guard and train to be a military chaplain with the expectation of deployment in 3-4 years.
The church office went through a renovation with new paint and carpeting. Several needed improvements were made - new air conditioners for the sanctuary, a new gas stove in the kitchen. Programs were evaluated and several planning sessions were held to review our ministry and outreach to the community. Messiah was instrumental in getting a much needed stop light installed at the corner of Cameron and Reinli where there has been numerous serious accidents. The church began holding indoor picnics to celebrate the 4th of July and invited community participation. Pastor Brannon resigned in October 2010.
2010-12
After Rev. Brannon's resignation, Messiah stayed in an interim ministry for one year with the Rev. Elroy Haverlah, former retired pastor of Palm Valley Lutheran in Round Rock, leading the congregation. This was followed by one year of shared mutual ministry with the pastors of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Austin providing worship leadership and pastoral care, along with other supply pastors.
During these interim years without a called pastor, the congregation went through a strategic planning process under Pastor Haverlah to determine strengths and areas of ministries where we may use those strengths. A property walk through was undertaken to determine needed repairs and improvements and then to prioritize them. From this process came the installation of a handicap access door on the Northridge side of the sanctuary. Lay Communion ministry was restarted to care for homebound members and non-members. Messiah facilities continue to be used for city and county voting, neighborhood theater groups, NA meetings, Girl Scouts and training sessions.
2012 to present
The Rev. Keith Born had been serving the congregation without call, for services as needed, since October 2012. In February 2014, the church council offered Rev. Born a call and at a congregational meeting held on Sunday, April 6, 2014, the congregation unanimously voted to extend the call. Rev. Born accepted and was installed as Messiah's eleventh pastor on May 18, 2014.
The Church celebrated it's 60th anniversary in 2015. For its anniversary project, the church replaced the pew cushions in the sanctuary. The congregation also purchased a new sanctuary piano.
At the beginning of 2015, Pastor Born resigned his call due to his heavy, personal schedule. He continues to serves Messiah presiding at worship at teaching Sunday School.
In 2017, MLC hired the Rev. Bridget Thien to serve as Visitation Pastor. Pastor Bridget visits the homebound, those in hospitals and rehab centers, and those in assisted living and nursing homes. She also provides counseling to members, as necessary. She also worships with at MLC usually on the first Sunday of the month.
We have always stated that the ministers of Messiah are its members! Just as the neighborhood around Messiah has changed, so has our congregation. Though small, Messiah continues to adapt and to seek God's will for the future. We have remained faithful and committed to being Christ's presence in this area. We are seeing growth and renewal around us, especially with the new Mueller Development. We look forward with anticipation for where the Lord will take us next.
