Faith Lutheran

Faith Lutheran Church began on November 13, 2005, with a group of approximately sixty individuals who broke their ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The group incorporated on January 11, 2006 as Faith Lutheran Church of Powell with Rev. Clyde Seifert as the pastor. Faith Lutheran had no meeting place, but the congregation of the New Life Christian Fellowship Church extended a kind invitation for Faith to utilize their facilities in north Powell. Through their generosity we have met at the New Life Church for the entire time of our existence. Winter worship time is typically 1:00 PM and summer 6:00 PM. Faith Lutheran is gradually gathering a rent/building fund in anticipation of the Lord opening other avenues for the group as He did initially with the New Life invitation.
The congregation normally has 50 – 60 people worshipping at our Sunday service. We have sponsored several “Alpha” classes and “Beta” classes. In 2008 the congregation, with additional Thrivent funding, provided for two water wells in India, and in addition contributed to the support of one family bringing the Gospel to the local Northwest College campus, one missionary family in the Philippines, another in Ecuador and a fourth doing language studies in China, as well as contributing a love offering to the New Life Fellowship for their generosity in sharing their facilities. Under the leadership of the Pastor and his wife, Karen, Faith has during the last three years shipped over one thousand layettes to Lutheran World Relief. Our Pastor has been instrumental in setting up a Park County Marriage agreement between the Pastors and magistrates within the county. The agreement essentially requires premarital counseling for couples intending to marry. The Faith music team, known as “In Light of Eternity,” has shared their spiritual music at meetings in six states to date, with a goal of praising God in all fifty states. At least two members of Faith have been present at each of the last three annual meetings of the LCMC Association and as a part of the birth of the association. Faith Lutheran is a member of the Mountain-Plains District of LCMC and is the only LCMC church in Wyoming at this time.
Powell is located in the Big Horn Basin of northwest Wyoming, a high desert area located between the Big Horn Mountains on the east, the main stem of the Rockies on the west, the Pryor Mountains to the northwest, and the Owl Creek Mountains to the south. Fishing and deer, antelope, moose and elk hunting opportunities, as well as camping and sightseeing opportunities are readily available, with winter opportunities for downhill and cross country skiing and snowboarding, snowmobiling and ice skating. The economy of the Powell area is based on agriculture, education, petroleum, and tourism. Agriculture includes livestock production (cattle, horses, sheep) and irrigated crops (malt barley, sugar beets, alfalfa, pinto beans and seed grasses). Education includes three elementary schools (one new this year), one middle school, one high school (new this year), and Northwest College, a two year residential college of approximately 1500 full time day students plus several hundred part time students. Yellowstone National Park is 75 miles west of Powell (geysers, scenery, fishing, wildlife, photo ops), the Yellowtail Recreation area is 25 mi to the east (boating, swimming, fishing, hunting, and wild horse viewing), and Thermopolis Hot Springs State Park is 110 miles south (swimming, picnicking, camping, white water rafting, soaking in the mineral water). Heart Mountain, Powell’s signature mountain, is approximately 15 miles west of Powell (hiking and an enduring view to the west). Powell maintains several parks, the largest of which is Homesteader Park providing baseball and soccer playing fields, a walking circuit, picnicking and camping facilities, ice skating in the winter, a kids fishing pond on special days, a kid’s water play area, and the home of a new 7.5 million dollar aquatic center under construction at the present time.
Park County is noted for having the first National Forest (Shoshone National Forest), the first Pick-Sloan Irrigation Project (Shoshone Irrigation Project opened in 1910), the last homesteaded area in the lower 48 states (Heart Mountain Project, 1946-47), the tallest concrete dam in the world in 1910 (the Buffalo Bill Dam which was amazingly elevated 25 feet in 1985). Today the Buffalo Bill Museum complex in Cody with its five different museums and galleries is a must see on anyone’s list, as well as Buffalo Bill’s “Hotel in the Rockies”, the Irma Hotel in downtown Cody, white water rafting on the Shoshone River, Frontier town, etc.