 |
Early meeting in second
church at Second and Vine |
1995: Property, originally owned by Trinity Lutheran Church, was purchased by the Nebraska District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at 512 East Second Street, consisting of a stone church building dedicated in 1897; wood-frame parsonage, completed about 1897; original wood-frame church building completed in 1878 and moved to present location in 1893 (after construction of the stone church, the original church building became Trinity Lutheran School, with an additional room being added in 1911; after restoration, this became the Family Life Center in 1998); two-car wood-frame garage, completion date not available.
1996: Hispanic Mission property named Cristo Cordero de Dios (Christ the Lamb of God). First VBS held in summer.
1996: Nebraska District LCMS calls the Reverend Roberto Rojas, first Hispanic Pastor at Cristo Cordero de Dios.
1997: The Reverend Jorge Santamaria from Ontario, Canada, called by the Nebraska District LCMS to serve as Hispanic Mission Developer at Cristo Cordero de Dios.
2001: Sebastian Diago, a young man from Guatemala and severely injured by a gunshot wound in Florida, becomes a resident at Cristo Cordero de Dios parsonage for more than a year (see Sebastian Diago Page).
2003: Jose Velasquez, along with his wife, Eunice, and children, Nicole and Daniel, move to the parsonage residence of Cristo Cordero de Dios Lutheran Church in Grand Island from an area near Santiago, Chili, to begin studies under Pastor Jorge Santamaria in conjunction with the Lutheran Hispanic Theological Institute at the St. Louis, Missouri, Seminary. Jose had previously completed five courses of study in Lutheran theology at the Lutheran Institute in Santiago, Chili.
2005: Cristo Cordero de Dios was admitted as 143 rd (first Hispanic) LCMS congregation in the Nebraska District.
2006: A three-year restoration and remodeling project started to bring all properties up to desired repair and recommended building codes. Jose Velasquez, along with wife and children, take residence in Cristo Cordero de Dios parsonage where Jose becomes a volunteer assistant of the congregation and also becomes a student in pre-seminary training under Pastor Jorge Santamaria. Children become students at Trinity Lutheran School, Grand Island.
2007: Pastor Jorge Santamaria and his wife, Blanca, retire in November to Ontario, Canada. Jose Velasquez completes four years of student studies as a congregational worship, music and education facilitator/volunteer, assisting Pastor Santamaria before his retirement and departure to Canada. The restoration and repairs project with substantial grants received from the Grand Island Community Redevelopment Authority, Trinity Lutheran Church Foundation, and members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Grand Island, LWML of Nebraska District South, Lutheran Ministries Foundation of the Nebraska District, Peace Lutheran Church Foundation of Grand Island, and Cristo Cordero de Dios members have provided approximately eighty-five thousand dollars spent since June, 2006, on physical improvements to the entire property. About seventy-five thousand dollars remains to be raised to complete all projects. A capital campaign to raise approximately twenty-five thousand dollars in improvements on the church’s sanctuary is presently under way with a tentative completion goal to be in 2008.
2008: The Reverend Royce Rinehart from Trinity Lutheran Church, Grand Island, begins to assist Cristo Cordero de Dios with consecrating the elements in Spanish and other official acts. Jose Velasquez and other lay volunteers, under supervision of the Reverend Glen Keylon, Grand Island Circuit Counselor, continue to conduct regularly scheduled worship services, Bible classes, and Sunday School.