On August 18, 1957 the first service was held in Perry by some 30 people interested in having an American Lutheran Church congregation in town. This led to the organization of Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church on January 12, 1958. Worship services and Sunday School were held initially in the Perry American Legion Hall. But soon, with help from the American Lutheran Church Board of American Missions, land was purchased and plans begun for the building of the church. The building project lasted till the fall of 1960 when the church was completed and Mt. Olivet finally had its own home for worship. In Just those couple years Mt. Olivet grew to have 165 baptized members. They had built a church and a parsonage. But most imporantly, they had built a new family of God in Perry. God was truly at work in thee people of Mt. Olivet.
There was still more growth to be done for the young church. In 1970, faced with inadaquate space due to a growing Sunday School Mt. Olivet added on an education wing. Containing 14 classrooms as well as an office and several storage areas this addition provided the church with the room it needed to continue to grow. And grow it did by 1983 Mt. Olivet had 371 baptized members as it celebrated it's 25th anniversary. In those 25 short years Mt. Olivet had become a place where people from all over Perry and the surrounding area could come to gather in community and worship God.
In 1987 Mt. Olivet became a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as the American Lutheran Church merged with other Lutheran church bodies to form this new denomination. The ELCA has been and continues to be a blessing to Mt. Olivet. The next 20 years saw many changes for Mt. Olivet. As the world changed Mt. Olivet changed with it. One of the biggest and most notable changes was the large renovation project the church underwent in 2007. The fellowship hall and kitchen were completely redone. The sanctuary saw many updates, including a wonderful new stained glass window. A new entry way and offices were built.
Today Mt. Olivet continues to be a place where people can gather together to worship God. We value where we have come from and all of the great leaders who have worked so hard to make this church what it is today. But we are excited to see what new things God has in store for us going into the future. We are sure there will be many more years of exciting things in store for the people of Mt. Olivet. We hope you can be a part of it and help us add the next chapter of our history.
There was still more growth to be done for the young church. In 1970, faced with inadaquate space due to a growing Sunday School Mt. Olivet added on an education wing. Containing 14 classrooms as well as an office and several storage areas this addition provided the church with the room it needed to continue to grow. And grow it did by 1983 Mt. Olivet had 371 baptized members as it celebrated it's 25th anniversary. In those 25 short years Mt. Olivet had become a place where people from all over Perry and the surrounding area could come to gather in community and worship God.
In 1987 Mt. Olivet became a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as the American Lutheran Church merged with other Lutheran church bodies to form this new denomination. The ELCA has been and continues to be a blessing to Mt. Olivet. The next 20 years saw many changes for Mt. Olivet. As the world changed Mt. Olivet changed with it. One of the biggest and most notable changes was the large renovation project the church underwent in 2007. The fellowship hall and kitchen were completely redone. The sanctuary saw many updates, including a wonderful new stained glass window. A new entry way and offices were built.
Today Mt. Olivet continues to be a place where people can gather together to worship God. We value where we have come from and all of the great leaders who have worked so hard to make this church what it is today. But we are excited to see what new things God has in store for us going into the future. We are sure there will be many more years of exciting things in store for the people of Mt. Olivet. We hope you can be a part of it and help us add the next chapter of our history.
