All Around Pennsauken

Special Submission By Rev. David L. Stoner

For 92 years, Temple Lutheran Church in Pennsauken has been blessed to be a blessing to the local community. From every member to every activity, Temple Lutheran Church has been that blessing since it began in its first building on Camden Ave., all the way back in 1926.

Reverend George Garver, the church’s pastor in 1962, asked the congregation to, “march forth” on March 4 of that year; and they walked from the Camden Ave. location to a newly completed building at 5600 N. Rt. 130, across from the Pennsauken Municipal Building.

We have been blessed to have this be our congregation’s home for the last 56 years. But in that time, our building had aged; and work was needed to insure that Temple Lutheran Church would be blessed to be a blessing for many years to come.

We invite the Pennsauken community to join us for our building rededication service on Sunday, Jan. 6. Our worship service is held at 10:00 a.m. and we will hold a pot luck celebration afterwards at 11:30 a.m.

Rev. David L. Stoner

Bud and Dorthy Derr, longtime Pennsauken residents and lifelong Temple members, understood what blessed to be a blessing really meant. Upon their death, one-third of their estate was bequeathed to our church to be used for the future. This generosity, combined with the generosity of all the men and women who have ever been a part of Temple, make it possible for us to refurbish our old building for all future missions.

Our building was in dire need of repairs and updating. With the money from the Derr estate, and a great leadership team, we chose Pennsauken’s own, B. Tait Builders, to remove and replace the heating and cooling systems; update the electrical and plumbing infrastructure; remove and replace the floors and ceilings; add a handicap-accessible bathroom; refurbish our existing restrooms; and modernize our fellowship room. We even replaced an antiquated public address system with a state of the art digital sound system that will meet our needs for many years to come. We have been blessed to be your blessing.

We’ve not accomplished this for our own benefit, but for the needs of Pennsauken. God has blessed us greatly, and we will continue to be a blessing to this community and beyond. Our Lida Knaus Food Pantry serves 100 families in a month; the mission trip to John’s Island provides much-needed repairs to homes in South Carolina; and we also welcome outside non-profits to use our facilities. We’re working to become as diverse as our community.

We invite the Pennsauken community to join us for our building rededication service on Sunday, Jan. 6. Our worship service is held at 10:00 a.m. and we will hold a pot luck celebration afterwards at 11:30 a.m. We also offer our friends and neighbors a safe place to serve and worship in our great Pennsauken community.

For more information, call (856) 663-7783 or e-mail templelutheran@comcast.net.