Our Story

All Saints Lutheran Church: Our Beginnings
November 1, 1990

Pastor Bill Schultz, Doris Schultz, Barbara Blackmer, Larry Dowd, Lois Dowd, Fred Holemo, Peggy Holemo, Carl Neuhaus, Elaine Neuhaus, Bill Sager, Helen Sager, and Mildred Zoellick were the very first members of All Saints Lutheran Church.

On November 1, 1990, Pastor William Schultz, his wife Doris, Larry and Lois Dowd, Carl and Elaine Neuhaus, and Bill and Helen Sager met for the first time, in the old community room of the Union County Bank (now United Community) to organize the first LCMS church
in Blairsville.

On February 23, 1991, twelve people came forward to join as members of All Saints. Those first members were Barbara Blackmer, Fred and Peggy Holemo, Mildred Zoellick, along with the Dowd, Neuhaus, Sager, and Schultz families. Three days later, during a Lenten service,  Wayne and Connie Krakora joined the All Saints family. Twenty years later that small group of worshipers has grown to 252 members!

Member Lois Dowd, our first organist, would tape the music for worship services at home on her organ. The Dowds brought their reel-to-reel tape recorder with them each Sunday to play the recorded music. Lois served as organist at All Saints for seven years, bringing her total years as a church organist to fifty years!

The altar and pulpit were built by Len Zimmerman and Carl Neuhaus. The wood was donated by Fred and Peggy Holemo. Fred (with help from daughter, Lori) chose the trees, cut them down, had them milled, and stored them to dry in Fred’s garage. Fred had planned on using the wood for the inside of his sailboat but decided that “God had another idea” for the wood. After building the current sanctuary, a lectern, communion rail, and the cross over the altar were built.

The green paraments were handmade by Lois Dowd and most of the other paraments were kits assembled by Lois and several other ladies in the church. The beautiful lamb embroidery motif on the white altar paraments was carried from church to church by Doris Schultz until she found a need for it and donated it to All Saints.

From that first meeting at the bank, to a room in the Rogers Building on the Square, to a double wide trailer, to our current sanctuary that includes a Fellowship room, class and meeting rooms, offices, and storage areas, this church has seen amazing growth. We have been truly blessed by the Holy Spirit.