Pastor John Stelljes is quite busy these days -- busy building a church.
Stelljes has attracted nearly 50 people in the Greenwood area to become members of his new Light of Life Lutheran Church -- even with construction of a building still about two years in the future.
The church is the only one on the Southside of Indianapolis associated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, he said.
Stelljes -- who came from Orlando, Fla., in July to begin developing a congregation -- has been holding semimonthly Sunday services in the Greenwood Community Center, 100 Surina Way, since January.
Now, services will be at 9:30 a.m. weekly in the community center, and anyone interested in joining is welcome, he said.
The church offices are in its Ministry Center, 360 S. Madison Ave., Greenwood.
At 1 p.m. Friday, the Greater Greenwood Chamber of Commerce will hold a ceremony welcoming the church at a 7-acre field on the southeast edge of Greenwood where the church eventually will be built. The site is on the southwest corner of Sheek and Worthsville roads.
On Saturday, a free carnival will be held at Clark-Pleasant Intermediate School to introduce the church to the public.
Stelljes said the Wisconsin synod has some more theologically conservative teachings than other affiliations, such as the more populous Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The Wisconsin synod has 1,290 congregations and nearly 400,000 baptized members in the United States.
"Our church body asked me if I was interested in starting a mission in Greenwood," Stelljes said.
He doesn't regret saying "yes."
"Since we moved here, we've found Greenwood an absolutely fabulous community," said Stelljes. He and his wife, Angela, and 3-year-old son, Jonah, have a home near the church site.
Founding members of Light of Life, he said, are "people who have been looking for a church and didn't have one."
A native of Minnesota, Stelljes grew up in Texas and graduated from Black Hills State University in South Dakota and the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.
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GJ - Two people sent me this link. People are watching Church/Change and the odious Patterson Network. The Doctrinal Pussycats are not watching anything. This strikes everyone as crass and inappropriate. Once an LCA member brought up "having a carnival." A local business leader said, "You don't want those people in town. Their reputations are earned."
WELS is earning a reputation, too.
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New Greenwood Lutheran church to sponsor free carnival
A new Greenwood church is introducing itself to the community with a carnival of free food, games, live music, puppet show and prizes.
The big event will be in the Clark-Pleasant Intermediate School from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The school, near where the church will be built, is at Sheek and Worthsville roads on Greenwood’s southeast side.
Three-year-old Jonah sleeps on the shoulder of his father, Pastor John Stelljes, near mother, Angela (right), while committee member Angela Meister looks on. Photo by Mike Alexander/Southside Times
Light of Life Lutheran Church is host for the family fun carnival that also will include indoor bounce houses, face painters, an artist who makes characters out of balloons, fishing, bowling, ring toss and corn bag-in-the-hole contest.
Highest scorer in the basketball free-throw contest will win tickets to an Indiana Pacers game. Highest scorer in birdie golf will win an Otte Golf of Greenwood package.
“It’s our way of letting people know that we (as a church) are here for them,” said 34-year-old Pastor John Stelljes.
He and his wife, Angela, 30, are overseeing a dozen-member committee in promoting the community attraction.
Stelljes said the church will be built in about two years on a 7-acre site in the southwest sector of Worthsville and Sheek roads. Mayor Charles Henderson will cut the ribbon as part of the official grand opening of the church at the site at 1 p.m. Friday. Source
