Feature
The One Body of Christ
God has brought together the resources and support to help a new church plant take root in south Wisconsin.
“In Acts Chapter 2[:42], after Pentecost, [there’s] this phrase, ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.’ … That is exactly what we’re doing [at this church plant], and that is exactly what the church has always done,” said the Rev. Joshua Benish, pastor of Peace Valley Lutheran Church, Monticello, Wis.
A new church plant recently formed in the LCMS South Wisconsin District (SWD): Peace Valley, which has been holding Sunday services for just over a year now.
As in the days of the Early Church, the Body of Christ today is still gathering in Jesus’ name around the Word and Sacraments.
Meeting a Need in the Area
Like many church plants, Peace Valley got started to meet a need — there was no other LCMS church around for miles. People living in and around Green County, Wis., would either drive up to Madison or cross into Illinois to attend St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lena, Ill.
It was time to plant a church closer to home. With St. John’s support and the help of the Rev. Dr. Nathan Meador, SWD mission executive, they began the process of planting a church.
“[We had] a group of people that were hungry for this,” said Dawn Pederson, a charter member of Peace Valley. She also noted that “God puts a group of people together with different specific talents, and we’ve all been able to contribute.”
In 2023, with the help of the SWD, they were able to call Benish after his graduation from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW).
“It’s really neat that we were able to get a new pastor fresh out of seminary,” said charter member Scott Horn. “He’s starting on his journey as a pastor at the same time we’re starting our journey as a church.”
In the fall of 2023, after Benish and his wife, Talitha, moved to Wisconsin from Fort Wayne, Peace Valley held its first service in the living room of Horn’s home. And Horn, whose father was an organist, still had his father’s old one-octave organ.
“Kevin [Harrison] and Scott [Horn] carried [the organ] up the stairs [from the basement], and it fit right in the entry way of their house. We used it for the first month of worshiping there, and it worked perfectly,” said Talitha Benish.
Just a month later, a new location fell into their lap: the library of Zwingli United Church of Christ in Monticello, where they have been gathering ever since.
All along the way, God has provided support for Peace Valley from other congregations, including St. John’s, as well as another congregation in Peace Valley’s circuit, which gave them funds to pay for a year’s worth of rent for use of Zwingli’s library.
“In going through this process, I have a greater understanding of what the one Body of Christ actually is,” said Joshua Benish. “The Lord provided in many ways for us. A couple of churches in Wisconsin unfortunately closed, but they gifted a lot of stuff to us. We got pews, chairs, a pulpit, an altar — all that goes into a church.”
Searching for a Home
Some members of Peace Valley had grown up LCMS but began attending church elsewhere because there wasn’t an LCMS church in the area where they lived now. Others had searched for a church home for years but were not able to find one nearby that truly preached the Gospel.
“It’s really refreshing for me to be with a group of people that have the same feelings and mindset,” said Kim Harrison. “I grew up in a Missouri Synod church, and so for me, having that again was what I knew and wanted.”
On Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, three new adult members were confirmed at Peace Valley, all of whom were invited by their friends who already attended church here.
Benish said that the reassurance that the pastor “wasn’t just going to plant and then move elsewhere, like most denominations end up doing,” was a significant factor for why some people joined Peace Valley. Others expressed the relief they felt to join an LCMS church and to commune — perhaps for the first time in years — at a church where they knew the Gospel was proclaimed purely and the Sacraments administered rightly.
Kim Harrison said she and her husband, Kevin, are especially thankful “to have our kids be part of something very unique like this. Everybody knows everybody. … It’s easy to pick up conversations, feel welcomed, and the kids talk about it. They talk about the people. They bring up the things that we do.”
All God’s people at Peace Valley are thankful for having been brought into a new church home.
“When you make … disciples, they’re not just a disciple unto themselves — they’re brought into a community, they’re brought into this fellowship with Christ, they’re brought into the kingdom of God, through Baptism and through teaching,” said Benish.
Learn More
- Learn more about LCMS Church Planting
Pray with Us
Dear God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, You promise that where two or three are gathered in Your name, You are in their midst. Grant success, we pray, to those planting churches in the LCMS South Wisconsin District. Dwell among them with Your presence and Gospel, that all might hear and share in the benefits of Christ’s redeeming work; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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Sarah Hjulberg
Former staff writer and editor for LCMS Communications.
