"Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church is moving forward in faith — gathering, empowering and sending persons into an ever-changing world as disciples of the living Christ."
—SOV Mission Statement
Forward in Faith — History of Shepherd of the Valley
Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church is a Christ-centered ministry serving the needs of Southwest Boise. We are a growing community of faith that seeks to celebrate our diversity of gifts through our mission.
Organization — Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church was initiated as a mission congregation in September 1975 and was formally organized on Reformation Sunday, October 31, 1976. At that time our congregation became a member of the American Lutheran Church. In 1988 the American Lutheran Church joined with the Lutheran Church in America and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Under the new organization Shepherd of the Valley became a member of the Eastern Washington Idaho Synod.
Facilities — Our first worship service was held in Larry Bockelman’s home with 45 worshipers. On Pentecost Sunday, June 6, 1976 worship services were moved to Maple Grove School. The American Lutheran Church purchased our present location for $31,000. On March 20, 1977 the congregation held a groundbreaking service to begin construction on our first worship facility. The first worship service in the new church was held on August 21, 1977. The congregation added several classrooms to the building in spring of 1986. However we still needed to use the Ada County Library for Adult Sunday School. In May 1990, we purchased a temporary facility to provide classroom space. We celebrated another groundbreaking ceremony in spring of 2001 that led to a new worship center, which was dedicated in February 2002.
Spiritual Leadership — Pastor John Reitan accepted our first call to serve our mission congregation and arrived in Boise in mid 1976. In November 1983, Pastor Reitan resigned to accept a call to another parish in Mesa, Arizona. Pastor Ed Silrum served as our interim pastor until Pastor Alan Berg arrived in August 1984 to serve our parish. Pastor Berg accepted a call to serve Christ Lutheran Church in Spokane, Washington in September 1988. During a long interim Pastors Ralph Fischer and Charles Bade served us until Pastor Reitz accepted our call in July 1989. Pastor Reitz accepted a resource facilitator position with the ELCA in 1998. Pastor Carolyn Arness served us during the 1998-99 interim. Jim Grunow has been the pastor of Shepherd of the Valley since November 1999. He received his Degree in Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary, St Louis in 1973 and was ordained in August of 1973.
The congregation voted in 1992 to call an Associate in Ministry with primary responsibilities for Education and Youth ministries. Holly S. Gunby accepted this appointment and was installed in October.
A new step was taken in 1987 when the congregation approved calling an Intern Pastor. Steve Goodwin, a ministry candidate at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota was with us until August 1988. In 1995 the congregation again became a teaching site for an intern from Luther Theological Seminary. Mark Borseth arrived in Boise in September. Diane Sponheim served her internship with us in 1996-97 and Michael Blaess was with us during 1997-98. Shepherd of the Valley Congregation member, Jeff Nate was ordained as a pastor in the ELCA in fall 2001.
Outreach Ministries — A Head Start program used our facility in 1977 and moved on to larger facilities in 1980. A year later the congregation started a Pre-school with one class for 3 and 4 years olds. In 1993 JoAnn Schaufelberger became Director of our Pre-school. This Early Childhood Education ministry has grown from two staff and one class to its present size of eight staff, 10 classes, and an enrollment of 152 students.
Worship Services — In 1992 the congregation adopted a different worship style for the 11:00 A.M. service. A professional sound system was installed and a small praise band was formed. The congregation also began producing its own worship bulletins. The worship ministry continues to be emphasized; our diversity of worship styles invites and welcomes people to join us in our praise of God.