Lutheran churches let God lead the way
Two local congregations offer peace to the meek and lowly of heart.
Pastor Ken Thurow of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church said, one of the most reassuring theologies of the Lutheran faith is accepting the grace and love of God.
“When we have hard times, allowing God to free us from our anxieties would be the biggest help,” Thurow said.
As a pastor, Thurow leads one of the two Lutheran congregations in Logan. His guidance is a help to around 175 people who attend church at the Prince of Peace Church held in the Aspen Grove Reception Center on 600 East.
Thurow said he didn’t always plan on being a pastor while growing up in South Dakota. It wasn’t until his senior year of high school when he made the decision.
While being active in the Lutheran faith and participating in a local youth organization sponsored by the church, he said he felt he was guided to make the decision.
Thurow then went on to earn a degree in history and education from what is now known as Dakota State University. He then continued on to study at Wartburg Seminary in DeBuke, Iowa.
He said the name of the Lutheran seminary he attended is important to the history of the religion.
In the 1600s when Martin Luther began his reformation of the church, he was banned to a castle in Germany, Thurow said. The name of the castle was Wartburg. During his stay there, Luther translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into German.
Thurow served as a pastor in various locations around the country including Boulder, Colo., and San Diego, Calif.
He said when he received the call to come to Logan for this interim, he had his preconceptions of being a minority in a community dominated by one religion.
“I worried the culture would be controlling or oppressive,” he said.
What he found was quite different though.
“We have been nothing but welcomed,” he said. “Maybe it is because of the university’s influence and the strong multicultural support.”
He said he is also impressed with the ethnic diversity found in the congregation.
“We have more ethnic variety here than we did in Boulder and the group was much larger,” Thurow said.
Another pastor said he is happy with the enthusiasm for church found in his congregation.
Scott Holder, the pastor at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, said he feels the group he presides over is very supportive of each of its members.
“This congregation is very unified and very close,” he said. “I think it is because of the connection they have because they are of the same faith.”
Holder said he was born as a Lutheran and is very thankful for the guidance he has received from his faith.
“It gives me a lot of security knowing that even though I mess up, through Christ’s sacrifice I can keep walking forward in faith,” he said.
After graduating from Texas Tech University in 1996, Holder attended seminary in Missouri. Eventually he was issued his call to come to Logan to lead his congregation.
“I love being in this area,” he said. “I haven’t ever been around mountains and this is a beautiful part of the country.”
Even though both groups are Lutherans, there are some differences between them.
The variations found between the two groups can be seen mainly in the organization and the way each practices rather than in the beliefs, Thurow said.
For instance, the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ECLA), a group formed in 1989 to merge many Lutheran groups together, he said.
Holder said The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, on the other hand, is part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. This synod was organized after many people of the faith emigrated from Germany together in the 1800s and settled in Missouri.
Thurow said Prince of Peace is also a little less conservative in the way they practice. For example, in 1970 the church began the practice of allowing women be ordained as pastors.
“It came about because of two things,” he said. “The first was the societal recognition of women’s equality. The second being we decided to start looking at how the scriptures portrayed these roles.”
Although they have these differences, both pastors emphasized the importance of knowing peace can be found in Christ.
“We feel God does not put heavy demands on us. It is important to know you are loved and give thanks,” Thurow said.
The Prince of Peace Lutheran Church meets each Sunday at 8:45 and 11:15 a.m. at 860 N. 600 East.
Worship services for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church are held at 581 N. 700 East at 8 and 10:45 a.m. each Sunday.