It was 1988 when Pastor Richard Pagan, then a Pastor in a large urban church in Peoria, Illinois, was called as a missionary-at-large to start a church plant in the southwest suburbs of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The Pagan family was familiar with Fort Wayne, though originally Pastor and his wife were from Bronx in New York. Pastor Rich had taken his seminary classes there ten years earlier. Pastor worked hard to recruit and assemble a team of church planters and seminarians that would help him launch an exhaustive phone calling campaign before the first service. He would also visit thousands of houses door-to-door asking people four simple questions:
- What’s the greatest need in this area?
- Why do you think most of the people in this area do not attend church?
- If you were looking for a church, what kinds of things would you look for?
- Do you have any advice for me as a new pastor in the area?
During this preparatory time Pastor also began prayer jogging through the neighborhoods of Aboite. As he jogged he would pray for the church he was called to start, praying specifically for the people in the neighborhoods the church would reach. During that time God laid the question on his heart repeatedly:
Is there a hell?
He could not understand the significance of the question. Finally one day he answered.
Yes, there is a hell.
With the utterance came the revelation that this church was to be a church for those on their way, literally, to hell.
The First Service
Pastor used the answers gathered form his door-to-door work to formulate a strategy to target those now being reached by other churches. If this church was to be a safety net to rescue the perishing, it would have to be attractive to them. This would mean contemporary worship, relevant messages, an accepting community, and a different approach to financial stewardship.
Finally, on September 25, 1988 an amazing 330 people cam to the first service. The hard work and prayer paid off. Pastor’s heart and vision for visitors was apparently getting through as well. Lutherans from all over the city came to Aboite to check it out. So many were refreshed to find a contemporary Lutheran church in Fort Wayne concerned with meeting their needs. The relevant teaching and uplifting worship became an oasis for many longtime Lutherans.
The church was formerly chartered on May 6, 1990. Aboite Lutheran Church called Pastor Pagan to lead the fledgling church plant into its infancy as a church family.
Soon bricks and mortar surrounded the vision after a set of very successful building campaigns. The sanctuary and Phase One was completed in 1993, and then the education wing (Phase 2) followed in 1997. Today, Pastor Pagan and the dedicated church leadership continue to keep ALC focused on its unique ministry and mission. The vision is packed with challenges but we know that through the power and call of Christ to seek and to save that which was lost
nothing is impossible for us who have been called according to his purpose
.
