OUR STORY

Planning for Christ the King Lutheran Church began in 1988 when the Missouri District LCMS purchased the Mountain Terrace Motel property in Lake Ozark, Missouri.  Solid support from Hope Lutheran members was established and a Mission Core Group was organized in March of 1994.  Several month's later, Hope's Mission Committee requested that the District call a pastor to serve as Mission Developer.

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In March, 1995, Rev. Ron Lehenbauer was installed as Missionary-at-Large for the Lake Ozark area.  By June, the Mission Core Group accepted the District Matching Funds Proposal to purchase the advance mission site.  Work days were held to tear down the hotel and converted the office/living quarters to a temporary worship area.

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On January 14, 1996, Christ the King celebrated its first public worship service.  The morning was glorious and we opened our doors to 138 people.  The year continued to show great prospect for growth in the Lake Ozark area.  By Memorial Day Weekend, the 9:00 a.m. worship service increased to two services at 7:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., with Sunday School and Adult Bible Class at 9:00 a.m.

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One year later, Christ the King was Chartered as a member congregation of the LCMS on January 12, 1997.  Rev. Ron Lehenbauer was installed as the full-time pastor on June 1 of that year.  As God moved us further toward our dream of a permanent structure we could use to worship Him and to reach the community, the congregation's building committee began planning a new structure.

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With much pride and anticipation, on December 14, 1997, the ground breaking service for the new worship site was held.  Construction on the 9600 square foot multipurpose facility began the following Monday morning.  The congregation was overjoyed to begin worship services and dedicate the structure on August 9, 1998.

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Seeing a need to expand the educational and family centered ministries programs, Christ the King called an associate pastor.  In September, 2003, a newly formed preschool opened its doors with two teachers and 16 students.  A Wednesday Evening Ministry was formed with a potluck, worship service, and meetings.

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Because of increased membership and limited amount of space, a Space Committee was formed in the spring of 2003 to pursue the hiring of an architectural firm for a master plan for additional space requirements at Christ the King.  As a result, the educational wing was added to the existing facility for use by the expanding preschool and for Sunday morning education.  The educational wing dedication was held on June 11, 2006.  In 2007, a Saturday night worship service was added to accommodate continued congregational growth.

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In May of 2011, a Mortgage Burning was held to signal the pay-off in May of previous construction activities and the growth continues. In the Fall of 2012, the school expanded into Elementary grades by adding Kindergarten. In order to best serve the needs of the growing congregation and ministry needs, a "Moving Forward in Faith" capital campaign was started in early 2013 for a building project of a new dedicated sanctuary, as well as additional classrooms downstairs for the school.

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While the building design process was underway, our staff continued to grow as we called a Director of Christian Education to help support our children, youth, and family ministries in the summer of 2013. We broke ground on the new construction in September of 2014, with the school finishing in August of 2015 and the new sanctuary being dedicated on January 10, 2016.

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Currently the congregation is blessed with over 650 baptized members.  We have many new ministry opportunities and challenges as we walk together in God's grace.  We pray for God's continued blessing as we boldly move forward into the future.