History of Alamance Lutheran

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Alamance Church began its life as a non-denominational mill chapel. There are no records of the earliest roots, but local oral tradition says that there was a “Sunday School” program of Bible study in the late 19th century in the Village of Alamance. The church membership list looked about the same as the list of town residents or the list of employees at the Standard Hosiery Mill. Sometime in the early 20th century a clapboard chapel was built, apparently by the owners of the textile mill to provide spiritual sustenance for their employees. This is usually associated with John Shoffner and John Black of Standard Hosiery but may predate their ownership. There is no question that they were great supporters later. The church building was a small, white, wooden structure, which is now the parlor and chapel without the dividing wall between the two rooms. 

The original worship services were held on Sunday evenings and were led by whatever clergy was available. John Shoffner, who had grown up at nearby Low’s Lutheran, objected to some of the teachings and practices of the early church gathering. He applied to the North Carolina Synod for the chapel to be incorporated as a Lutheran church in 1929, and Alamance Lutheran Church was formed. At that time, the clapboard church building was bricked over to give it a more permanent appearance. A seminary student from Columbia S.C., Herman Fisher, was assigned to the parish. For two years he completed his degree and traveled to Alamance on weekends and was called to be pastor in 1931. Later, an addition was added, consisting of our current nursery, the Golden Workers Sunday School (which is now where we gather for fellowship before and after worship), and the choir suite. In the late 1950’s, the Sanctuary, Sunday School rooms, cemetery, and Fellowship Hall were added.
 

Our pastors have been:      
 

The Reverend Herman Fisher, 1931-1938                                    
The Reverend C. Lee Shipton, 1938-1949                                    
The Reverend Paul B. Cobb, 1949-1953                                    
The Reverend Glenn S. Eckard, 1953-1963                                    
The Reverend Roy B. Setzer, 1964-1970                                    
The Reverend Boyce Whitener, 1971-1976                                    
The Reverend Robert Q. Beard, 1977-1978                                    
The Reverend Charlie Hoyle, 1979-1987                                    
The Reverend James Lockley, 1988-2015
The Reverend Ronald D. Philabaum, 2016-2024

The Reverend Patrick J. Rooney (Interim), 2024-Present

 ALL ARE WELCOME…..COME HOWEVER YOU ARE.