From the May 2015 Newsletter:
May 3, 2015 – On This Day We Will Remember and Imagine
On May 3, 1965 San Marcos Lutheran Church was officially organized. Later that month the South Pacific District of the American Lutheran Church extended a call to Pastor Henry Hoesman to become organizing pastor of this mission congregation. There were many people who worked hard before this to make May 3 possible. Pastor Magnus Anderson of First Lutheran Church in Vista identified a need for a Lutheran con-gregation in San Marcos in the early 1960’s . The members of Como Park Lutheran Church of St. Paul, MN sponsored this mission congregation. They mortgaged their property for $100,000 and gave direct support in the amount of $5,000/year for four years.
Worship began in the cafeteria of Alvin Dunn Elementary School in September 1965. Later with funds from the Como Lutheran loan, 4.1 acres were purchased at 3419 Grand Avenue. Groundbreaking for the first buildings was held on November 14, 1965. The first unit was completed and the congregation began worshiping at our current location. Over the years other buildings have been added and the Sanctuary went through a major remodeling and was rededicated in May, 1999.
Through our first fifty years of ministry San Marcos Lutheran has been a beacon of hope in our communi-ty. We have sought to share God’s love with all people, living out God’s dream of Shalom. Sometimes we have been better about doing this than at other times. Yet, we continue to strive toward our calling, which is to be God’s people in this time and place. As we keep our eyes focused on that mission, we continue to grow in our love of God and neighbor.
What will the future hold? God only knows, but that is good news indeed! What is certain is that we won’t be the same, because God continues to move us into God’s abundant future. In the words of the last stanza of our anniversary hymn, “O God, beyond the measure of any finite mind, the church proclaims your glory to waiting humankind. We dream within horizons of what has come before. Grant us your boundless vision; help us imagine more.”
Peace in Christ,
Pastor David Jorstad
1. Remember and imagine the future and the past, both roots and rising branches, the first things and the last. Our heritage prepares us for what is yet in store; we dream of what we hope for, but God imagines more.
2. Through times of trial and testing, division and despair, our dreams seemed but illusion, our hope beyond repair. Though walls we built confined us, God’s grace gave us a door. We longed for restoration, but God imagined more.
3. Our faith is shaped in action where law and gospel meet when praying finds expression in willing hands and feet. For as the Word incarnate refines us to the core, we strive for simple healing, but God imagines more.
4. O God, beyond the measure of any finite mind, the church proclaims your glory to waiting humankind. We dream within horizons of what has come before. Grant us your boundless vision; help us imagine more.
For the 50th anniversary of San Marcos Lutheran Church, San Marcos, California
Text: Adam M. L. Tice, b.1979 © GIA Publications, Inc.