Our Mission is to welcome people in, to help all grow in God’s gracious gifts and abilities, so that we may be sent out to care for others in our families, our congregation, our neighborhood and in the world, sharing the Good News in Christ’s name.

Our history started in March 1966 as the seeds for The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer were sown when Hickory native and former foreign missionary Pastor Dwight Conrad accepted a call from the Board of American Missions of the Lutheran Church in America to organize and build a new church in east Gastonia.

A planning committee held its first meeting August 2, 1966, to organize the new church.  During this time the church received the name of “The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.”  September 11, 1966, marked the first service which was held at Lewis Motor Company located at the current Tindol Ford location.

On October 30, 1966, the Charter was signed by 125 confirmed and baptized members.  In May of 1967, due to the difficulty of meeting in the car dealership, the congregation moved to the sanctuary of Ward Funeral Home.  By this time the congregation had begun planning for their own building to call their church home, which was referred to as the “First Unit.”  The groundbreaking was held using a white painted plow pulled by members of the congregation on October 22, 1967, and the congregation held their first worship service during Holy Week in the first unit of the church on April 10, 1968. 

The Fellowship Hall/Classroom addition, completed in 1986, was added to the original “First Unit,” fulfilling part of the master plan. 

In early 2001 the congregation began laying the groundwork for a capital campaign for expanding and improving our facility. The Long-Range Planning Committee had earlier determined that in order to meet the needs of the congregation and promote growth the congregation needed to increase the size of the sanctuary and narthex and provide handicap accessible restrooms. 

Since the beginning of the building campaign in early 2001, we have received many generous donations that enabled our congregation to begin construction in January of 2009. Along with a new sanctuary, narthex and handicapped bathrooms we also created additional classroom space, office space, a larger music room, additional parking and a memorial garden.  The completion of the new sanctuary and the location fulfills the vision of Pastor Dwight Conrad and the founding members of The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.