In the year of 1969, plans were being made for a Lutheran mission in Greer, South Carolina. The Rev. James Addy came June 1, 1970 to help with the planning committee.
Twenty-seven people attended the interest meeting at the old Greer High School (which is now the J Harley Bonds Career Center). As interest grew, a house was purchased on the church site near 101 and 290. The first service was held October 4, 1970, when the name “Redeemer” was chosen.
The congregation was officially organized on March 26, 1972 and ground was broken for the first church building on May 25, 1972. The first building included a sanctuary, office, kitchen, nursery, and multi-purpose room.
The first worship service was held there on March 14, 1976, and Rev. Addy served Redeemer until October 31, 1976.
Our next pastor to serve was Rev. John Withrock who came in 1977. Rev. Withrock served for three years until he resigned in 1980. He was followed by Rev. George Shealy, who resigned in May 1982 for health reasons. The Rev. William Camlin served from 1983 until 1985. He was followed by Rev. Jeffrey Lageman in 1986. Rev. Lageman served Redeemer for 18 years and during that time the church experienced growth in numbers and a renovation of the sanctuary and office areas that was completed in 2003.
After two years of interim pastors (Rev. John Heyer and Rev. Marion Clark) the church called Charles Fritz. Rev. Fritz served from February 2006 until November 2008. In January 2009, Rev. Scottie Burkhalter became interim pastor and in April of 2009, he accepted the call to become pastor of Redeemer. After serving eight years at Redeemer, Rev. Burkhalter resigned June 11, 2017.Once again, Rev. Marion Clark served as interim pastor until Redeemer called another pastor.
On September 23, 2018, we were honored to call Rev. Elise T. Stringer to serve as Redeemer’s new pastor. Since answering the call, Redeemer has grown tremendously in numbers, in spirit, and in community outreach. We look forward to growing even more in the future and we know with Pastor Elise’s guidance, God has great things in store for all of us.
