The History of Crown of Life Church & School
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. - John 1:16
The EARLY beginnings
August 18, 1971 - Six acres of land on the corner of Hubertus Road and Tally Ho Trail were purchased.
July 22, 1973 - Ground breaking of the new church took place, and on August 5, 1973 Pastor Paul Pankow was installed as our first resident pastor.
October 1973 - Construction began of our church.
December 1, 1974 - Our new church was dedicated to the glory of God, and an open house for the community was held on dedication Sunday. A day school was provided at Peace, Hartford, for those families who were interested.
April 1975 - To provide further Christian education opportunities, Crown of Life joined the Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School Federation.
August 28, 1978 - Crown of Life Lutheran School opened with 30 children enrolled.
Fall of 1995 - Crown of Life began a new K4 program.
Growth & Expansion
1996 - The voters of Crown of Life approved a Senior Vicar Program for our congregation. A senior seminary student would be asked to assist our pastor from September through May with the distribution of Holy Communion and to preach in one week’s services per month. The Lord blessed our congregation with its first senior vicar in September 1996.
July 23, 2000 - Ground was broken for the building of our new education facility consisting of two above ground classrooms with a gymnasium/fellowship facility.
September 2000 - Our new K3 program started. About 20 children were enrolled in the K3 and K4 programs during the 2000-01 school year.
October 2000 - Started construction of the education and fellowship facility, which included two or three above-ground classrooms, a gymnasium/fellowship hall, and a large narthex on the church to accommodate fellowship before and after our services. Construction of our new facility was completed in May 2001, and the grounds around our new facility and church were landscaped.
2004 - The first Pig Roast was held in June 2004 with the purpose of reaching out to the community. It is not the primary purpose to get more COL members (though this has happened), but rather to create an opportunity for believers to have conversation with unbelievers, to redirect straying souls back to faith and their congregations, and to create community awareness of our congregation.
April 29, 2012 - Ground breaking was held for a major expansion project.
May 12, 2013 - Dedication service for our new sanctuary was held.
2020 - Crown of Life celebrates its 50th anniversary. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many of the plans to be scaled back, but a series of three special services were held throughout the year to mark the anniversary.
We pray that the Lord continues to bless us according to his gracious will, to move us to meet the challenges that are be placed before us, and give us the wisdom to manage well what he has entrusted to us. To God be all glory!
Pastors
Pastor Ralph Martens
interim pastor (for exploratory work), December 1969 to August 1970
Pastor John Raabe
interim pastor, August 1970 to August 1973
Pastor Paul Pankow
senior pastor, August 5, 1973 to April 21, 1985
Prof. Wayne Mueller
vacancy pastor, April 22 to June 15, 1985
Pastor John Schneidervin
senior pastor, June 23, 1985 to July 31, 2003
Pastor Michael Helwig
senior pastor, September 7, 2003 to June 30, 2018
Pastor John Mattek
associate pastor, July 8, 2007 to November 15, 2009
Pastor Johnold Strey
associate pastor, September 25, 2016 to June 30, 2018
senior pastor, July 1, 2018 to the present
Senior Vicars
Seminarian Michael Helwig / September 1996 through May, 1997
Seminarian Daniel Heiderick / September 1997 through May, 1998
Seminarian Matthew Kuske / September 1998 through May, 1999
Seminarian Anthony Fix / September 1999 through May, 2000
Seminarian William Ritchie / September 2000 through May, 2001
Seminarian Christian Christenson / September 2001 through May 2002
Seminarian William Cornelius / September 2002 through May 2003
Seminarian Peter Sulzle / September 2003 through May 2004
Seminarian James Hoogervorst / September 2004 through May 2005
Seminarian Timothy Berg / September 2005 through May 2006
Seminarian Brad Krause / September 2006 through May 2007
Seminarian Zach Gerbert / September 2011 through May 2012
Seminarian Jeffrey Grundmeier / September 2012 through May 2013
Seminarian Jeremy Wosje / September 2013 through May 2014
Seminarian Ben Zuberbier / September 2014 through May 2015
Seminarian Greg Sitzman / September 2015 through May 2016
Seminarian Christian Marquardt / September 2016 through May 2017
Seminarian Jacob Brohn / September 2019 through May 2020
Seminarian M. Andrew Dey / September 2020 through May 2021
Seminarian Anthony Pflughoeft / September 2021 through May 2022
Seminarian Samuel Helwig / September 2022 through May 2023