FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH
Gainesville, Texas
LCMS
ABOUT US
In late 1974 and early 1975, thirty families in the Gainesville area began meeting together and making plans to establish the first Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation in Cooke county. By September of that year, in the Gainesville National Bank Hospitality Room, the name was chosen, times and a location were set—Faith Lutheran Church was established by God, through His chosen and beloved people. Some forty-nine years later, we gather here as brothers and sisters in Christ to those faithful families, some of whom are still gathering with us! We give thanks to God for His work in this community, and we are glad to gather together in His name for prayer, to praise Him and receive His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation in Jesus. At Faith we cling to this Good News--hope for the hopeless.
OUR FOCUS
OUR COMMUNITY
Being a Lutheran congregation, our focus is Christ Jesus. It is odd having to say that but this is something we can no longer assume about a church. In a day and age like ours, where truth is twisted and nothing seems certain, we must hold tightly to the One who came to seek and save, the One who is True. And so, by God's grace, we are part of the "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church." In Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection, ascension and promised return, we His redeemed and adopted children, depend on His steadfast love and promises so that, though we are weary and heavy-laden, we will find rest through Him. That is our focus. We gather where He can be found, in the Word and Sacraments, to receive His precious gifts of forgiveness and life, which are sweeter than honey and more precious than gold.
With a focus on Christ the family of Faith Lutheran Church strives to be of service to one another and our community. A large portion of what we do as a church is operating a resale store called Helping Hands of Faith. Helping Hands of Faith is a volunteer run resale shop which donates, through grants, nearly all of the annual proceeds. Women's shelters, child advocacy groups, fire and police departments, schools and many more of our local aid organizations receive grants as large as $7,000. This is just one way we serve our neighbors.
Rev. Paul and Jamie Terral
Jamie and I have been married for 18 years and have four wonderful children. Since our marriage, we have both been involved in serving the Church (LCMS) in numerous ways.
Before arriving in Gainesville, Texas to serve at Faith Lutheran Paul served as a Director of Christian Education for ten years, leading ministries at Camp Lone Star in southeast Texas and Our Savior Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas. Prior to that he served four years as an avionics technician on F-16s in the United States Air Force. He graduated from Concordia University–Austin, with a B.A. in Christian Education and Theology and received a Master’s of Divinity from Concordia Seminary in St Louis. Go Cards!!
Jamie also studied at Concordia in Austin (M.Ed.) as well as Texas A&M (B.S. Bio-medical engineering)—Whoop! She has taught 8 years at three different Lutheran High Schools covering most of the math subjects and many of the sciences. In addition to teaching in a high school setting she spent a little time teaching at Lone Star College in west Houston. While doing all of that, and being a tremendous mother of four, she has become a certified nutritional educator and is serving wherever she can in our local community to encourage and equip our neighbors to eat well so they can live well.