The seed for this church plant originated as God gave Pastor Henry Biar and King of Kings Lutheran Church a vision for mission. They noticed many of their new members coming from the Schertz area and rightly identified this area as one of the faster growing regions of greater San Antonio.
With the help of Ken Hennings of the Texas District – Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and other area churches, they formed a Texas Mission Action Council (TMAC) to study the feasibility of a new mission plant.
Following the Lord’s leading, the TMAC recommended and the Board for Mission Administration of the Texas District called a mission planter, Pastor Ken Mitschke, who accepted the call and was commissioned on January 23, 2000.
They also purchased 10 acres of land less than 1/5 mile from Interstate 35 on busy Schertz Parkway. This property is near several new housing developments and is strategically located to be a regional church, easily accessible by a large number of people.
Ken and his wife Patti took every opportunity to receive training in church planting, to talk with their new neighbors wherever they went, to cultivate relationships, plant seeds and to trust that God would bring the growth.
Pastor Ken wrote in his first quarterly report that the new church plant had 100% attendance and that 100% of the members were tithing (giving 10% of their income to the Lord)! Of course, the church plant at that time consisted of his family of four.
After the first year, God brought together a Launch TEAM of 25 people - over a 500% increase! Over the ensuing year they:
- Shared meals together and the joys of starting a new church.
- Talked about the Biblical values that drives this ministry, the two-fold mission which directs it, God’s vision of what could and must happen, and the various ways people could be a part of what God is doing at Word of Life.
- Prayed for creativity and guidance.
- Surveyed neighbors, co-workers, friends and relatives to determine their spiritual needs and desires.
- Formulated ideas, dreamed dreams, considered possibilities.
- Prioritized and planned.
- Commissioned ministry teams.
- Worked the plan
God also raised up over 200 prayers partners and contributors who supported this ministry. Without their help, this ministry would not have been possible.
On January 27, 2002, Word of Life Fellowship celebrated its Grand Opening Service with 154 in attendance. While many were guests who were already active in a home church and came to show their support, several others were not regularly being fed spiritually. Together, we look forward to being part of God’s work of building a bigger heaven and better lives.
