St. Lucas: A new church with old charm

As doors begin to open at the nearly completed new St. Lucas Lutheran Church, the history and legacy of the congregation’s first place of worship stand proud.
Planning for the church stemmed from 2008 discussions from the Church Facilities Committee, a group designed to assess the limitations of the original St. Lucas. By 2012, the group had presented plans to construct a new church, offering more space, better accessibility to guests, and updated facilities.
A capital campaign ran from 2012-2016 to prepare the initial groundwork for the project. Followed by another final push and some sizable private donations in the early 2020s, leading to the new location’s eventual groundbreaking on Dec. 8, 2024.
“We had a member who let me know that in his estate plan, he was leaving us a large sum of money, which I didn’t know exactly what it was at that time,” said St. Lucas Reverend Tim Henning. “Well, it turned out to be close to a million dollars when he passed away. And that really gave us the kick to get going. That was back in 2021.”
The new church and school, located at 1420 Parkview Dr., is directly across the street from the original St. Lucas, built in 1913. While the facilities may be new, some of the charm and history of the original church are being carried over.

“Two things that we had from the beginning that we were not going to negotiate on are the stained glass windows were absolutely going to be used in the building, and then the pipe organ,” Henning explained.
The stained glass windows will be disassembled and reformed to fit the window frames at the new location. The organ will be reinstalled using the same historic pipes, offering a familiar tone in a new environment.
The planned sanctuary will feature a capacity of about 230 guests. A new playspace for children is also planned.
St. Lucas Lutheran Church in Kewaskum is hosting its first service at the new location on Nov. 16, followed by an open house on Nov. 18. Community members are encouraged to attend the event and see the new facilities firsthand.

Check the Kewaskum Statesman website to watch the full interview with Reverend Tim Henning and learn more about the project.