Faith Lutheran Church

Rev. Robert H. Loucks was something of an expert - not just in the Bible, but also in getting new churches up and running. So when the Lutheran Church in America was looking to organize a new congregation in Hillsborough in 1965, they knew who to call. Rev. Loucks had developed St. Stephen's in South Plainfield in 1955, and lately had served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Topton, PA. Now the Camden native was ready to come back to New Jersey and lend his guiding hand to a new Hillsborough church.

10 July 1965 Courier News

He spent the first two months in Hillsborough knocking on doors - 1300 doors to be precise - trying to find Lutherans or non-churchgoers who would be interested in supporting a Lutheran church in the township. Before long he reached his goal of sixty adults and forty children, and, with financial support from the New Jersey Synod of the Lutheran Church, Rev. Loucks held his first church service on October 10, 1965, at the Hillsborough Consolidated School (HES).

10 October 1966 Courier News

Exactly one year later, Faith Lutheran Church was officially organized as a congregation of the Lutheran Church of America. Now numbering 136, the congregation that had come together from 28 different area churches set their first goal - raising the first $1,000 for a church building fund. The Lutheran Church in America soon acquired 18 acres of land on the corner of Beekman Lane and what was then Amwell Road (now South Branch Road). Five acres were partitioned off for a church site.

19 May 1969 Courier News

In January 1967, Faith Lutheran Church purchased that 5 acres from their national organization and redoubled their fundraising efforts. To that end, the church employed a professional capital funds counselor and set an $8,000 "must" goal and an $11,000 "venture" goal - both soon surpassed. Groundbreaking for the initial structures at Faith Lutheran Church took place in May 1969.

15 December 1969 Courier News

The finished building consisting of a chapel and a classroom wing was dedicated on December 14, 1969. The contemporary church was designed by Michael Meloni. A major addition to the church was begun in 1992 and there has been yet another addition in recent years.

Aerial View from Google Maps

Faith Lutheran Church celebrated 50 years in Hillsborough in 2016, and will soon celebrate 50 years at its familiar location on Beekman Lane.