The Seeds of Faith Story

Seeds of Faith is a “new start” congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Planted in the communities of Lisbon & Mt Vernon, we are rooted in our Mission of:

“Growing in Grace...

Gathering for Worship...

Scattering to Witness And Serve!”

Seeds of Faith was planted officially on April 29, 2001 when it was recognized as an ELCA member congregation. However, the Seeds of Faith community was growing long before then. Starting with the desire to see an ELCA Lutheran congregation in the Lisbon/Mt. Vernon area and building on an inviting door knocking campaign, Seeds of Faith began strengthening its roots.

Worship services began in the Lisbon Community School Cafeteria but moved quickly through the area parks, churches, the old Mount Vernon High School (currently the "new" middle school), and even the famous Christmas eve in a barn service due to the quick growth of this community of faith. In January 2007, we moved our offices and worship space into the second floor and auditorium, respectively, of the former Mount Vernon Middle School. This was the first time in our history that we had our business office and worship space in the same building, not to mention that we also for the first time had our Lenten Services in the same location as we had our regular Sunday worship services.  We were also relieved that we no longer had to set up and break down our worship space every week, as we were allowed to keep our altar set up, unless there was another function in the auditorium.

During the summer of 2007 we had a smashingly successful campaign, and raised enough money to purchase five acres of land just east of the Lisbon city limits.  We closed the deal in the fall of 2007.  With the purchase of the land, we undertook a capital campaign, also in the fall of 2007, and began raising funds to build a permanent home for Seeds of Faith on the five acres.  With the success of the capital campaign, we broke ground in the fall of 2008, and began construction of the future home of Seeds of Faith Lutheran Church.  Due to a limited budget though, we realized that this was not going to be a normal building project, this was going to very much need to be a DIY construction project, and our members pitched in and had a hand in virtually every aspect of construction.  The people of Seeds of Faith moved massive amounts of dirt, built and set concrete forms, framed the exterior and interior walls, hung insulation, removed several large ice formations, installed windows and doors, laid ceramic tile,  planted trees, installed cabinets and fixtures, built a system of movable partitions to create several flexible meeting and classroom spaces, and many other jobs.  This was a project that brought great meaning to the 2009 Eastern Iowa Synod mission statement to our members.  That mission statement is:  God's Work.  Our Hands.  Together.

During the weekend of August 28-30, 2009 we are moving out of the space we have been renting since January 2007, and are moving into our fabulous new building!!!

We invite you to come experience His powerful presence!

Come worship with us some Sunday at 9:00 AM as we strive to bring faith and life together in real and practical ways! Come help us write the next chapter of this never-ending story of Christ’s love for you, for us, and for all people.