West Liberty Chamber of Commerce Business Spotlight: Zion Lutheran Church
by Sara Sedlacek · September 16, 2009

It’s been more than 100 years since Zion Lutheran Church in Atalissa first opened its doors but the founding families can still be found worshipping each Sunday.

Until 1903, families in Atalissa had to travel to the Moscow Lutheran Church each Sunday to worship. In February of that year, several families gathered to talk about their situation. At that meeting, the group adopted the constitution suggested by the Iowa District of the Evangelical Lutheran Iowa Synod, thereby joining that body of the Church and founding Zion.

Those in attendance at that meeting were George, Sr. and Elizabeth Weiss, Philip Weiss, John Weiss, Christian Weiss, Nicholaus Spilger, Adolf Gatzke, Wilhelm Werth, August Klink and Carl Timm. Rev. Julius Doden acted as chairperson of the meeting.

After the constitution was adopted, a building committee was formed to choose a lot and formulate a building plan. In the summer of 1903 a second meeting was held and the group decided to pay $150 for the chosen lots. Building commenced quickly, according to the Church’s 75th anniversary book. On Oct. 11, 1903, the church was dedicated.

At its organization just 24 people made up the membership of Zion. Its membership is roughly the same today with just 25 active members.

“That number has fluctuated over the years,” said Zion Rev. Lynn Thiede.

The Church recently lost nearly a third of its membership when the men from Henry’s Turkey Service were taken away in February.

Thiede has been with the Church since 2005. This was her first call and she said she isn’t going anywhere else anytime soon. Thiede’s call to Zion was a joint call with Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in West Liberty. Prior to entering the seminary, Thiede had received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Iowa. She then moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked with the American Psychological Association.

“I loved being in D.C.,” Thiede said. “I received my call in my 30’s when I finally decided what I wanted to be when I grew up.”

Thiede said Zion Lutheran Church is very community and family focused.

“It’s all about family here,” she said. “I love being with these people and being in the church.”

Zion Lutheran Church hosts a monthly lunch for, not just church members, but community members, as well. The Church also hosts an Oktoberfest to celebrate the harvest season. Thiede said the building is open to community groups for a meeting place and also to community members for things like birthday parties, anniversary parties and other gatherings.

“We’re an aging congregation but that doesn’t mean we don’t have something to offer,” said Thiede.

The Church holds services during holidays like Christmas, Easter, Lent and Advent.

“We do all the normal stuff,” Thiede said. “We’re pretty conventional here.”

Since the congregation is small, everybody puts in a little extra to help the Church function.

“In a congregation this size, everybody has to do their part,” Thiede said. “Whether there are 30 people or five people here, worship always happens. I really respect that about this place.”

Though Thiede handles most the administrative duties, Lee Geertz serves as the Church’s treasurer. She helps manage the Church’s finances which include income from two rental properties: a farm endowment from the Weiss family and the parsonage. These two rental properties help the Church make up for what may be lacking in membership giving due to the small congregation.

The size of the congregation, however, has not hurt the Church’s effectiveness.

“You don’t have to have big numbers to be pertinent and effective,” said Thiede.

Zion Lutheran Church is located at 226 4th St. in Atalissa. Services are held at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday and adult Sunday school is at 9 a.m. each week.