The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a series of communitywide festivities, honoring a century of faith and local history.
The milestone celebrations officially began last Saturday with a historic tour of past church sites. The tour was led by award-winning local historian Dicksie Knight May and featured 12 different locations in Laramie where the Zion congregations previously gathered to worship throughout the decades.
“Many years ago, on the 85th anniversary of our church, I did a bunch of research and what I discovered was that before we had a building, we met in quite a few different places,” May said. “We met in the homes of people that became our charter members. We eventually bought a house that we converted into a chapel.”
The church’s main building is located at 406 S. 19th St., and it maintains a chapel on the campus of the University of Wyoming.
Zion was established in Laramie in 1926 as a Scandinavian Lutheran church under the leadership of Norwegian pastor Reverend Reini, who embedded Missouri Synod doctrine and practice into the congregation’s foundation.
Today, the church is led by Pastor Mark Mumme, who has served the Laramie community for the past two years after relocating from Riverton.
“The people here love Laramie, like everyone they struggle with things going on around the area, but they love Laramie and they’ve been very helpful. I like history and they’ve been very helpful in teaching me about the area and things that happen,” Mumme said.
Reflecting on the church’s enduring mission, Mumme added, “We try to get involved and use the things that we’ve been given by God for the good of the community at large.”
The centennial celebrations will continue during the coming week with a full schedule of events:
Meet and Greet: 11 a.m. Saturday for fellowship with former members and Lutherans from the district.
Special Celebratory Worship: Sunday morning worship at 9 a.m., followed by a congregation group photo at 10:30 a.m.
Guest Lecture: 11 a.m. Sunday, featuring Cameron Mackenzie, professor of church history at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, presenting “History of the Christian Church in America” at Zion.
Centennial Banquet: 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 6, in the Alice Hardie Stevens Center, located at 603 E. University Ave.
Reflecting on the milestone, May emphasized the deep roots the congregation has established in the area during the last century.
“It was important that our members and our community know about our part in Laramie. I feel like we’ve had a big impact, we’ve shown ourselves being faithful Christians and we’re proud of that history. We’re proud we’ve been here for 100 years,” May said.
More information about the history of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church can be found on its website lcmszion.org, under the about tab.