Our Congregation

In the early 1960’s, Lutheran residents in south Dallas County petitioned the Lutheran Church in America (a predecessor to the ELCA) to consider establishing a new mission in Lancaster, Texas. Land was purchased at the corner of Pleasant Run and Bluegrove roads in an area which was at the time entirely rural.  Although a mission church met for several years in the downtown area of Lancaster, it disbanded for a time.  The mission development began again in 1973.

The charter for Lord of Life Lutheran Church was signed on January 27, 1974. On September 29, 1974, Lord of Life Lutheran Church was officially chartered as a congregation of the Lutheran Church in America.

In the late 1970’s, plans began for a permanent worship place on the property purchased many years before in Lancaster.  The groundbreaking and blessing of the church site was held on August 24, 1980. The first services were held during Holy Week of 1981, with formal dedication on Sunday, June 7, 1981.  The congregation enjoyed many wonderful and fruitful years in their beautiful church in Lancaster. 

The congregation was challenged in the mid-1990’s by declining membership and began to re-vision their ministry together.  They made the decision to sell the church and its three acres in April of 1997. After a short temporary residence in a former automobile dealership showroom in an older part of Lancaster, the congregation moved south to Red Oak and found a home in the former Methodist Church building.  

The congregation began the search for a permanent location in the Red Oak area in 2000. In late 2001, they purchased three acres of land located on Ovilla Road, one mile west of Interstate Highway 35 E, in the town of Glenn Heights.  Groundbreaking was held in April of 2002 and the building construction was started in May.  A 5,000 square foot metal building was erected and bricked on the outside. The congregation and many friends of Lord of Life completed the construction inside, resulting in our present combined worship space/fellowship area, classrooms and offices.   The first service held in the building was a memorial service in memory of September 11, 2001. The first official service was held Christmas Eve 2002.

Over the past years, as we have put down roots once again in a permanent location, we have found ourselves in a time of transformation.  We continue the commitment and recognition of the call of God on our lives as a community of faith to reach out to a wounded world.  The congregation embraces diversity, seeking the unity we have as people created in the image of God.  We are excited about the new possibilities of being servants to the greater community in which we live, and to seek ways in which we can walk alongside those who need our support and the message of hope that we have in Christ.  We hope to continue to increase our availability to our community as the Spirit helps and guides us. 

Our Pastor      

Rev. Vicki Taylor answered the call of the Holy Spirit to serve Lord of Life Lutheran Church in September 2004.  After a 21 year career in business, most recently as a Vice President of a large reinsurance intermediary firm, she felt a call to the ministry.  She attended Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and was mentored through Wartburg Theological Seminary (Lutheran, ELCA) in Dubuque, Iowa.

After receiving her Master of Divinity degree at Perkins, Pastor Vicki spent a year of focused study in Lutheran identity at the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest which is housed on the campus of the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas.  Ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament on September 3, 2004, Pastor Vicki began her service here at Lord of Life on September 5, 2004. 

Pastor Vicki’s husband, Dailey Taylor, is a member of our congregation as is her mother, Prue Halvorsen.  They have one son, Chris, who is a graduate of Texas A & M University and is employed in Houston, Texas.  Last, but not least, Wilson, their young Border Collie Mix puppy keeps them on their toes!

 Congregation of Lord of Life Lutheran Church, May 4, 2008.  Some members not present, be sure to check back for photo updates! 

Confession of Faith

1. This church confesses the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. This church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe
     -  Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom
        everything was made and through whose life, death, and
         resurrection God fashions a new creation.
     -  The proclamation of God's message to us as both Law and Gospel
        is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy through word
        and deed, beginning with the Word in creation, continuing in the
        history of Israel, and centering in all its fullness in the person and
        work of Jesus Christ.
     -  The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the
        written Word of God. Inspired by God's Spirit speaking through
        their authors, they record and announce God's revelation centering
        in Jesus Christ.  Through them God's Spirit speaks to us to create
        and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the
        world.
3. This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.
4. This church accepts the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as true declarations of the faith of this church.
5. This church accepts the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness to the Gospel, acknowledging as one with it In faith and doctrine all churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.
6. This church accepts the other confessional writings in the Book of Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles and the Treatise, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as further valid interpretations of the faith of the Church.
7. This church confesses the Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the Church for God's mission in the world.