St. Joh's Lutheran of Concord to celebrate homecoming and dedication of Heritage Building

St. John's Lutheran of Concord will be celebrating 263 years of ministry during its annual homecoming Sunday, Sept. 21.

The church's newly constructed museum-quality Heritage Building will be dedicated at the end of the worship service.

The morning begins at 10 a.m. with a combined adult Sunday school class in the sanctuary. The guest teacher will be Jane Casper Faggart, a member of the church from infancy until her marriage. Faggart is a graduate of Mount Pleasant High School and Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory. After graduation, she taught English, French and journalism for more than 30 years in Rowan County. After her retirement, she served as supervisor for the House of Lloyd until the company closed.

Jane and her husband, J.B. Faggart, are members of Wittenberg Lutheran Church in Granite Quarry, where he is organist and she is an adult Sunday school teacher and secretary of the Women of the ELCA. For many years, she has been the principal speaker for the churchwomen when they have charge of the worship service. Jane and J.B. are the parents of one son, John, and one daughter, Kim. Also, they are proud grandparents of five granddaughters.

The homecoming worship service will start at 11 a.m. The combined adult choirs and handbell choir of St. John's will be offering special music. The guest preacher will be the Rev. Dr. W. Bryan Faggart, an ordained elder in the N.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church and is senior pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church in Durham. Early in his career Pastor Faggart was the choir director at St. John's Lutheran Church. He holds a bachelor of arts in music from Catawba College; a master's degree in Christian Education from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; a Th.M. in Pastoral Psychology from Duke University, and a D.Min. in Spiritual Formation from the Graduate Theological Foundation. Bryan is a certified spiritual director from the Institute for Spirituality and Health in Columbia, S.C., and is a spiritual formation leader at Duke Divinity School. He is vice-chair of the Christian Unity and Interreligious Council of the North Carolina conference and is actively involved in the United Methodist Church and Episcopal Church dialogue. Bryan is the husband of Judy Faggart, a public Montessori teacher in Durham. His daughter, Meredith Faggart, is a sophomore at N.C. State University. His parents are Mr. And Mrs. William Edward Faggart of Landis.

At about noon, the congregation will process to the new Heritage Building and finish worship with a service of dedication. The Heritage Building will be a repository primarily for papers, photographs and other historical items associated with the ministry of St. John's and those related to the church. The 5,226-square-foot building is primarily constructed of block, brick, steel and cement. There are no windows so UV rays from the sun cannot destroy documents. The building contains a climate-controlled system, including humidity controls. The storage units, such as the shelving units, are made of metal, which is standard for archival use. It is monitored by a security system at all times.

Following the Worship and Dedication, Sunday dinner will be served at the Fellowship Building. Tours of the inside of the Heritage Building will be from 1-3 p.m. The community is invited.