BOLD BEGINNINGS...

In 1945 the stagnation of the Great Depression and of World War II had finally come to an end. A spirit of optimism prevailed, and Fort Wayne was expanding southward beyond Rudisill Boulevard and northeast beyond State Street. The time was ripe for the establishment of a congregation at the northern edge of the city, where cornfields were rapidly giving way to extensive residential development. At this time, North Anthony Boulevard ended at Crescent Avenue, Coliseum Boulevard did not exist, and Charlotte Avenue marked the northern boundary of the city limits.

Under the direction of the Central District Mission Board, the Rev. Henry J. Eggold of Burlington, Iowa, was commissioned to organize a congregation in the northern part of Ft. Wayne. At a cost of $8,000, St. Paul's Church purchased the ten acre tract of land on which Holy Cross Lutheran Church is now located. The new church was to co-fund a Christian day school, which was located at the corner of State Street and Alabama Avenue, at the site of the current Allen County Public Library. It was agreed that all members of St. Paul's Church living north of Curdes Avenue would be urged to become members of the new North Side Mission.

Pastor Eggold was officially commissioned on November 11, 1945, and the first meeting of the North Side Mission was held on December 10, 1945 with twenty people present. Pastor Eggold reported that he was canvassing the area thoroughly. He said that 84 people had indicated their intention to join the church. The question regarding the eventual disposal of the day school building was raised. St. Paul's Church agreed that the new mission should share on a 50/50 basis in the eventual sale of the building. As subsequent records show, when St. Paul's Church sold the building for $26,000, Holy Cross was given a cash gift of $11,421.93. Bethlehem Church also donated funds to the newly organized church. Next on the meeting agenda was the selection of a name for the new congregation. All church members had been encouraged to submit potential names. Among the names suggested were Holy Cross, Mount Olive, Church of Our Savior, Bethel, Pilgrim, St. Stephen, Messiah, and Nazareth. Two weeks later, a vote was taken and the name Holy Cross was chosen.

In the meeting of January 24, 1946, the following officers were elected: Alfred Meinzen, president; Otto Rodenbeck, vice-president; Arthur Lenz, secretary; Arthur Gertz, treasurer; and Calvin Marhenke, financial secretary. By this time the encouraging “problem" of overflow attendance at the services had arisen. It was decided, therefore, to have two services.

A MEMORABLE OCCASION

On February 6, 1946, a constitution was adopted and Holy Cross was now an officially organized congregation. On that day, the congregation consisted of 89 communicants and 150 baptized members. Never in their dreams could they have guessed that ten years later this small group would grow to more than 900 communicants and almost 1,600 baptized members! In 1949, the congregation purchased a parsonage at 2515 Woodward Avenue at a cost of $11,000. It was sold in 1954, for $12,300. The new parsonage, located on the church property and now known as the Aulick Center, was first occupied in 1955. It was built at a cost of $19,585.42.

THE FIRST BUILDING PROJECT

On August 24, 1947 ground was broken for the first unit of the school building. The contract for construction was awarded to Buesching Brothers Construction Company. By the time the building and added projects were completed, the cost of the entire enterprise was about $120,000. Formal dedication services were conducted on October 24, 1948.

Like the congregation, Holy Cross School enjoyed a favorable growth during the first five years of the its history. In 1946, the enrollment was 52 students. Kindergarten was added for the 1947 - 1948 school year and the total enrollment grew to 77 students. In the fall of 1948, the enrollment reached 112 students and a third full time teacher was added to the faculty.

After five years of faithful and highly effective service, Pastor Eggold accepted a call to a professorship at Concordia Theological Seminary, which was then located in Springfield, Illinois. Pastor Eggold died on June 3, 1982.

LENGTHENING THE CORDS

After a vacancy of only three months, Pastor Clifford Aulick accepted the call of Holy Cross and was installed as pastor on July 29, 1951. Pastor Aulick began at Holy Cross at the same time that the church's second major building program was getting underway. Because of inadequate facilities, the teachers were working under trying conditions. The four classrooms were filled to capacity. Construction began in February of 1952. A Journal Gazette news article published at that time stated: "The one story structure will contain five classrooms, a library, a meeting room, and an office for the pastor, The $110,000 structure is expected to be ready for occupancy by fall of this year. Of contemporary design, the school will be of concrete block and steel construction with lannon stone exterior." With the new addition the school would be able to accommodate an enrollment of 320.

The $125,000 addition was officially dedicated on October 5, 1952. The school, with Elmer E. Masenthin as principal, had an enrollment of 180 children and a staff of six teachers. The congregation had nearly 700 communicant members and over 1,000 baptized members.

Continued growth of both the congregation and the school demanded a third major building project. Started in the spring of 1958, contractors provided for the construction of the air conditioned church edifice, four new classrooms, and office facilities, as well as the nursery, lounge, and meeting rooms. The new complex of buildings was constructed at a cost of almost $500,000. The new structure was dedicated on December 6, 1959 in front of an overflow crowd of more than 1,000 members. The congregation at this time had 1,171 communicant members and 1,957 baptized members. But a scant six years would pass before the sounds of construction again were heard in the halls of Holy Cross. In 1965, ground was broken for a full-sized gymnasium, a cafeteria with seating for 500, a choir rehearsal room, and four more classrooms. Once again, the cost approached $500,000. The school enrollment was 455 students.

Pastor Aulick served the congregation at Holy Cross for seventeen years until his death from a brain tumor in 1968. During Pastor Aulicks illness, Pastor Theodore Klees was called as Holy Cross's first Assistant Pastor. After the death of Pastor Aulick, Pastor Klees accepted the call to become Senior Pastor of Holy Cross. He served until 1975 during which time a new assistant pastor, the Rev. James Stalder was called. Following the resignation of Pastor Klees, Pastor Stalder accepted the call to become the Senior Pastor. For the next 14 years, Pastor Stalder led the 3,500 member congregation. During his tenure, the fifth major building program took place. This brought the new Library-Media Center and two new classrooms into the Holy Cross ministry. These new facilities were dedicated on October 28, 1984.

In 1988, the Rev. James Cotter was installed as Assistant Pastor. After the resignation of Pastor Stalder, Pastor Cotter accepted the call to become Senior Pastor at Holy Cross. He served as Senior Pastor until he accepted a call to be associate pastor at Holy Cross and was given peaceful release from his call as Senior Pastor.

There were several interim pastors during the following years, including Dr. Alan Borcherding, a Professor at Concordia Theological Seminary. Pastor David Bush also assisted with the pastoral duties. But Pastor Otto Krupski, a retired pastor from Michigan, assumed the lion's share of the work.

In October 1993 Pastor Richard Koehneke accepted the call to serve as Senior Pastor. He has served the congregation since that time.

Throughout the latter part of 1994 and the first part of 1995 a search process was conducted in an effort to call two Associate Pastors to work with Pastor Koehneke. This process resulted in the calls to Rev. John Fair, Associate Pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Aurora, IL; and to Rev. Edward Fehskens, National Director of Lutherans for Life. Both Pastor Fair and Pastor Fehskens accepted these calls and were installed into their ministries on the third Sunday in September, 1995.

Pastor Fair served as Pastor of Care. His responsibilities included the coordination of hospital and shut-in visits, grief aftercare, pre-marital counseling, pre-baptismal counseling, parish nursing, Stephen ministry, TeleCare, and a wide variety of other ministries designed to help all our Holy Cross Partners to feel loved and cared for.

Pastor Fehskens served as Pastor of Service. His responsibilities included the discernment and deployment of the natural talents and Spiritual gifts of all Holy Cross Partners in service to the Lord. He also supervised annual and ongoing programs of financial stewardship, organized the incorporation of new partners into the life of Holy Cross so that all Holy Cross Partners would feel needed.

In the Spring of 1998, Mr. Ralph Grewe retired as Principal of Holy Cross Lutheran School. The office of Interim Principal was assumed by Mr. Norman McNally while a search process was conducted to find a permanent successor to Mr. Grewe.

The search process continued for the unexpectedly long duration of four years. Several calls were extended and declined by various individuals around the Synod. Mr. McNally continued to serve faithfully to the Spring of 2002.

In the Spring of 2002, Mr. Denis Peters of Fort Wayne, Indiana accepted the call to serve as the Principal of Holy Cross Lutheran School. Mr. Peters came to Holy Cross from the principalship at Christ Lutheran School, Woodburn, Indiana, after a long and distinguished career in Lutheran Education. A 1965 graduate of Concordia, Seward, NE, Mr. Peters brings a breadth of experience and depth of insight to this position which will be important for the long-term future of this vital ministry.

The year 2003 saw many changes and transitions at Holy Cross. Rev. Edward Feshkens accepted a call to serve as Pastor of St. John’s, Elma, NY. Our Minister of Youth, Mr. Larry Hencye, accepted a ministry position at Trinity Lutheran Church on St. Mary’s Avenue, in Fort Wayne. Mr. Kenneth Schilf, our Minister of Christian Education, accepted a position as full-time Executive Director of “Worship for Shut-Ins,” a position which he had held in a part-time capacity since the mid-1980’s.

In April of 2003 the congregation extended a Divine Call to candidate Mark Neubacher who was soon to graduate from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. He was ordained and installed in August 2003. Pastor Neubacher brings to Holy Cross some 20 years of experience in retirement home and nursing home administration. He coordinated the ministries of care formerly coordinated by Pastor Fair.

Pastor Fair assumed the administrative responsibilities in April of 2003, while Pastor Koehneke began to devote more of his time and attention to worship planning, playing and leading music at the Saturday night service (a varied form of worship which was introduced in September of 1998), preaching, and teaching of adults. With the departure of Mr. Hencye and Mr. Schilf, all three pastors took on new responsibilities in addition to their regular pastoral duties.

In 2005-2006 the congregation celebrated "Sixty Years of God's Blessings" with a variety of special events and activities. February of 2006 saw the successful conclusion of a three-year campaign to eliminate a debt of over $400,000 due to an operating deficit which had accumulated over the previous several years. In the summer of 2006 Mr. John Mueller retired as Minister of Music after serving Holy Cross for 43 years. His successor, Mr. Kenneth Rogner, came to Holy Cross from St. John's Lutheran Church in Rochester, Michigan.

In the fall of 2006 Pastor Fair received a divine call to serve as Senior Pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Marysville, Ohio. Pastor Fair accepted the call and left Holy Cross in December after serving Holy Cross for over eleven years. Pastor Koehneke resumed the administrative leadership role which Pastor Fair had taken up in April 2003. He continued to oversee the music for the Saturday night service, using a variety of guest musicians to serve as song leaders.

The first six months of 2007 were filled with activity and progress by the grace and power of God. The congregation embarked on a capital stewardship program called "Holy Hearts, Wholly His" to expand and improve our capacity to "equip God's people to make a Christ-like difference in the world" by expanding and improving our physical facilities: replacing our boilers, installing air conditioning in our classrooms, renovating the classrooms, expanding the narthex and adding a fellowship hall, establishing a central staff office complex, and repaving the parking lot. About 800 Holy Cross partners were involved in some leadership or helping role in the program. In June it was announced that nearly three million dollars had been pledged over the next three years to accomplish this effort, and the news was greeted with much joy, celebration, and thanksgiving.

Alongside this program, a major staff study was underway to determine how to provide the most God-pleasing mix of professional staff to lead the congregation in carrying out its mission. The Lutheran Foundation approved a grant in February to establish the new position of Director of Discipleship (young adults, small groups, and incorporation of new partners) and that position was filled by Mr. Chad Van Meter in the summer of 2007; Mr. Van Meter came to Holy Cross after serving for eight years at Aboite Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. Mr. Denis Peters retired as our school principal in the summer after serving Holy Cross for five years; his successor is Mrs. Cecily Chandler, a teacher and administrator in Fort Wayne and former chairperson of our Board of Education. In June of 2007 Rev. Dr. Larry Merino joined the Holy Cross pastoral team as Associate Pastor in charge of Gospel outreach, to equip Holy Cross partners and others to seek the lost for Christ. Dr. Merino came to Holy Cross after serving as pastor of New Life Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne and as director of Harvest Mission International. Mr. Mark Lange joined us in June as well, taking over the responsibilities of Executive Director to manage the operational business of the congregation; he had served with Pastor Merino at New Life and Harvest Mission International for seven years after eighteen years as an engineer and project manager in local industry.