By Keighla Schmidt, Staff Writer 

In spite of being within driving distance of other Lutheran church titans, St. Mary Magdalene Lutheran Church has grown in the last 20 years as a quaint gathering spot for suburban families.

Rev. Paul Cross has been serving the church since 1999 and attributes the thriving congregation’s success to people’s desire to attain a “neighborhood feel” from their church.

“The church provides a sense of community hometown feel, I think that has a lot to do with it,” Cross said. “There are still a significant number of people that look for something more personal.” Paul Cross: Rev. Paul Cross stands next
to the frequently-used baptismal font at St.
Mary Magdalene Lutheran Church in
Savage. The church is celebrating 20
years Sunday, April 20.

For Becky Scheiber, who has been a member for 17 years, St. Mary Magdalene has a nostalgic feel. “I grew up in a small town,” she said. “It feels like the church I grew up in.”

Scheiber and her husband, Terry, have been members since they moved to Savage in 1990. Becky said the ministry, philosophy of the church, the members, close, family-oriented community, the friendships formed and the proximity of the church are what keeps them there.

They may be atypical, as worshippers, Cross said, because many members come and go. As the church has grown up with the “new” part of Savage, he said, the community has a revolving door, and a similar pattern is found in the church.

“We find, that with a community like this, a lot of people come from various places,” Cross said. “People move in, and people move out.”

One way that is apparent is in the services Cross performs. In the nearly 10 years he has been leading the congregation, he has done about five funerals and a just few weddings.

The most used item in the sanctuary is the baptismal font. “We’ve had a lot, a lot, a lot of baptisms,” he said.

Reaching out

The congregation, with its 475 members, is focused on community outreach. Many programs are designed to give back to both the global and local community.

For instance, youths and adults have participated in mission trips to Mexico to build houses for families. The two-room, 11-by-20-foot buildings with stucco walls, metal roofs and a door with a lock becomes a significant step up for people who are typically living in boxes.

“People like seeing things they can put their hands on,” Cross said. “We’re literally building hope for people.”

And although the projects are designed to reach out, Cross said often times the experience becomes one that is also beneficial to the traveling missionaries.

“It helps our people come back with a far better appreciation for how God has blessed them and how God encourages them to give back,” he said. “I think it’s has helped us more (than the people in Mexico). There’s a pretty strong lasting effect on our lives.”

Becky was part of the first mission team and plans to go back again this month.

“It was a very dynamic, life changing, perspective changing experience,” she said. “We didn’t even get through half of the week before we already saying ‘OK, next year …,’ we were already making other plans.”

Church members also tackle hunger issues and participate in the “Feed My Children” program, which sends nutritional pre-packaged meals to hungry people around the world.

On a local level, members of St. Mary Magdalene have contributed to building Habitat for Humanity homes and will do so once again this summer when a second one is built in Savage.

On a lighter note, the church is planning a teddy bear picnic in an effort to get new teddy bears to give to the Savage Police and Fire Departments to keep in their vehicles if they need to comfort a child.

And, as an outreach, the church is partnering with other local Lutheran churches to launch a new congregation in Credit River Township, River of Joy. The new church will be lead by a former pastoral intern from St. Mary Magdalene.

The Savage church prides itself on being a teaching church. Since Cross came to Savage, there have been eight pastoral interns. “The congregation really enjoys investing in the future,” Cross said of their willingness to embrace the interns. “They’re fresh from the seminary and have lots of interesting ideas.”

Becky said she agrees and loves the opportunity to have the interns as well as the opportunities they bring.

“Each one brings new things and you can see more and more congregation members getting involved with the programs the interns bring,” she said. “You never want to see them leave, because they’re always so good, but as soon as the next one gets there, it’s the same story.”

She also said it’s exciting to hear about former pastoral interns and what they’ve done since the left. “It’s fun to hear that they’ve flourished in their new church setting and know we had a small part in their development,” Becky said.

Many of the outreach programs are products of the interns, Cross said – including the missions to Mexico, the sister church and the teddy bear picnic.

Cross said there is such a wide range of outreach programs because, like most other things in life, certain things appeal to some people more than others. “At the root of it, people really just like to serve and connect,” he said.

The church also reaches out to its own members with a solid youth ministry program, Cross said.

Looking back

In the 20 years, the church has not only seen new faces on a regular basis, but has also undergone physical changes. When the church first started as a charter church on April 17, 1988, St. Mary Magdalene was led by a husband-wife pastoral duo, Donna Erickson and Galen Knutson.

Without an actual building, they proved the motto: “A church is a people” when they would gather to worship in places such as the American Legion.

After transporting hymnals, altars, Bibles and other worship items for a few years, a sanctuary was dedicated in 1991 and expanded in 2005.

Becky said the expansion provided the church the ability to have a gathering place. “We used to joke about how you would open the doors and walk right into the sanctuary … there was no sneaking in late,” she said of the old building. “Now there’s a place to visit after the service.”

She also said that having the extra space is more inviting and less intimidating to visitors and new members because they can socialize without feeling like that have to rush out of the nave but can gather in the narthex.

Cross said the layout of the church intentionally mimics the shape of a cross, it’s meant to be reflective, he said.

A new addition to the church is a permanent sign on County Road 42. Cross said he hopes the sign will bring more people in.

The Scheibers, who helped celebrate the church’s 10 year anniversary, are excited about the upcoming celebration as well as the future of the church. “We’re always looking for ways to reach out where ever we can,” Becky said. “We’re looking forward to the next 20 years, and beyond.”

 Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com.