History
Celebrating 175 Years!
- We are a congregation with a rich history dating back to 1849, a dynamic presence with over 1400 members and a bright future! We are proud of our heritage, but bold in our commitment to live and serve with people who come from diverse backgrounds and traditions.
- We are one of the largest congregations in our area, but we enjoy and foster a smaller church atmosphere in many ways as we connect and grow in faith.
- We are a congregation of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
- We preach and teach God’s grace through Jesus Christ and shape our lives around that promise and message to others. This is Good News! If you are curious about what else we believe, this page is a good place to start, or Martin Luther's Small Catechism. Our faith is also strongly reflected in how we preach and worship. The best way to find out what we believe is to come be a part of our community in worship! Feel free to ask one of our pastors, as well.
- Our vision for ministry at Muhlenberg is to be a Wellspring of God's Grace: Open + Authentic + Relational + Serving.
- Our bell has a history almost as old as our congregation. The bell was cast by the foundry of Jones and Hitchcock in Troy, NY between 1852 - 1857 and originally installed in a church in Pennsylvania. In the late 1880s, the bell was brought to Muhlenberg and stored until it was placed on the new brick church built at N. Main and Wolfe streets. When the current building was built in the early 1950s, the bell was placed in a boiler room where it sat (except for a few years when members stored it in their barn for safekeeping) until the building of the Gathering Area in 2009. In its now prominent position outside the Sanctuary, we can hear and appreciate its call to worship once more.
- Part of our history is in our name! We are named for Peter Muhlenberg, an American clergyman, Continental Army soldier during the American Revolutionary War, and political figure in the newly independent United States. He was a Lutheran minister, and served in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate from Pennsylvania. More on his history in Woodstock, Virginia can be found through PBS: History Detectives and a depiction of his time in Virginia can be found in the Stained Glass in the Sanctuary.
