About St Peter Ministry Center
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St. Peter’s Lutheran Church of Fort Pierce Florida was officially organized on October 8, 1961. There were 63 charter members along with mission developer James Hansen who started the work of this parish. The early years brought forth many “firsts”. Holy Communion, Baptism, Sunday School, the organization of the Lutheran Church Women and Vacation Bible School to name a few.
Ground breaking for the original church structure at 25th and Virginia Ave. was held on April 2, 1967. The very first church service held in this building was on October 8, 1967; exactly six years from it’s organization! The educational/Fellowship building was dedicated in 1979 followed by the dedication of the Administration building in 1986
The congregation has grown spiritually over these 38 years. Led by numerous pastors and council members, the church not only established a Blood Bank for members in 1978, but also began offering Holy communion every Sunday in 1991 and has expanded the educational opportunities for adults by the addition of TLC (Tender Loving Care) ministries in 1995. We are continuing our participation in the Pastors and Pigs for Haiti Ministry and have provided 808 pigs as of April 2000. Epiphany and Ascension bring joint services with St. Andrew’s and St. Simon’s Episcopal churches. We are presently in our third Lenten season of sharing services with our friends at St. Andrew’s Episcopal.
As with many 30+ year old properties, issues were occurring rather regularly with the building (roof and air conditioning to name a few) coupled with the inability to grow, add classrooms or parking. The Lord blessed the congregation with a $1.4 million purchase contract for the church property in 1997. The final service held in this facility was on October 26, 1997. Many tears were shed as the final refrains were sung, the hymnals and office packed up, and the Cross taken down from the building. However, the knowledge that the Lord provided the way for the congregation to grow and continue reaching out to the community of Fort Pierce kept our spirits high. The pews were given to one local church and many years accumulation of choir music was donated to another. The purchase of 18+ acres on Jenkins Rd. became a reality! In early 1999, after many miles of travel, many hours of meetings, the congregation was presented with and approved a building plan. On November 21, 1999 we had our ground-breaking for the new facility.
