History

The Beginning
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church’s beginning goes back to a group of interested people who gathered together to worship and plan in October 1964. The congregation was certified as a mission congregation of The American Lutheran Church on October 10, 1965 and was incorporated as a congregation under Wisconsin laws on February 25, 1966.

Pastor Gerhard Bretheim answered the call to serve the new congregation, and there were fifty family units numbering 210 members on the church’s records at the dedication service on January 30, 1966. As was the custom at that time, the founding pastor was given the privilege of naming the new congregation. Pastor Bretheim chose Prince of Peace Lutheran Church because Peace Lutheran Church of Oshkosh helped to sponsor this new mission start and underwrote some of the costs.
 
Since Then
When our first worship space was built in 1966 on East Calumet Street, the church was on an open field with nothing around it. The area and the church have really changed! As the congregation grew, its mission status ended in November 1969, and a new north building addition was completed in January 1970 to accommodate increased parish education and fellowship needs.

After Pastor Bretheim accepted a call to a different congregation, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church called Pastor Vernon Holtan in November 1972 to become its second pastor. The congregation continued to grow, and groundbreaking for a new sanctuary and narthex took place in August 1978. The new structure was dedicated on June 3, 1979.

Early in 1992, a building project began which resulted in a complete remodeling of much of the existing facilities along with the addition of classrooms, a new kitchen and fellowship hall on the west end of the building.

Pastor Holtan retired in August 1992, and Pastor Gary Nokleberg accepted the call to become Prince of Peace Lutheran Church’s third pastor. The sanctuary was refurbished in early 1996, and the pipe organ was rebuilt at the same time. The congregation continued to grow and passed the one thousand member mark in 1994. To suit this new growth, the old north addition was demolished and another building addition was constructed in 1998. With greatly expanded floor space, now there is room for a larger education program, nursery care, and music ministry.

Pastor Roger McQuistion joined the pastoral staff in 2000 and became the fourth pastor in Prince of Peace’s history. A digital component was added to the worship life of the congregation in 2009, as well as greatly expanded programs to enhance the spiritual life of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. Serving together for 14 years, Pastors Gary and Roger worked to provide for the expanding needs of the congregation. In 2014 the narthex was remodeled to provide much-needed space for fellowship as well as the expansion of office and meeting spaces. Prince of Peace also welcomed its first pastoral intern, Cheryl Davis. Pastor Nokleberg retired in September 2014 after serving at Prince of Peace for 22 years, the longest presiding pastor in the church’s history. Our mission statement has served us well and we continue to “grow into” it.
We celebrated our 50th Anniversary as a church as of 2016. With many blessings to date, we welcomed Pastor Jennifer DeNetz as the fifth pastor for Prince of Peace, installed on March 13, 2016.
 

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Is
a Family of Christians Growing in Faith
and Reaching Out in Love!