Faith Lutheran Church and Preschool sits on the west side of Georgetown, Texas, along Williams Drive, with a sanctuary and classrooms where roughly 500 people gather on a typical Sunday. The congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod has organized its life around a single sentence: Know Christ, Live Christ, Make Christ Known. Everything from the Sunday liturgy to the bags crocheted in room C-101 flows from that motto, paired with the supporting vision of "Discipling Joyfully Together" in a community that intentionally cultivates joy and love.
Sunday Worship at 8:15 and 11:00
Two Sunday services bookend an active mid-morning of formation. Worship begins at 8:15 am and 11:00 am, with Bible classes and Sunday school for all ages meeting at 9:45 am between them. The services are traditional Lutheran liturgy, led from the front by a liturgist and proclaimer - usually the pastor - with lay readers scheduled for each service and an organist guiding the congregation in hymnody. A children's message is offered as part of the service, and the order of service follows the historic pattern of Word and Sacrament.
The Lord's Supper is celebrated every Sunday at Faith, in keeping with the Lutheran confession of the Real Presence of Christ's true body and blood in the Sacrament. Communion is received with glad hearts, as Jesus enjoined his disciples to "Do this often." Baptisms mark a member's initiation into God's kingdom and a share in these promises, by grace, through faith.
Nursery care is provided during services. Families with young children are encouraged to sit toward the front where little ones can see and hear what is happening, and the congregation invites children to sing the songs, pray with the assembly, and take part in the service rather than being quieted - the church's own guidance to visitors: "God put the wiggle in children; don't feel the need to suppress it here." Some members arrive in their Sunday best, others in everyday clothes, and both are at home in the assembly.
For those who cannot attend in person, services are livestreamed, and recorded video of recent services remains available on the church's YouTube channel.
Know Christ, Live Christ, Make Christ Known
Faith's three strategic values - Worship, Christian Education, and Human Care - give the congregation a clear vocabulary for everything it does. The church teaches that all Christians are made to be disciples, are empowered to live as disciples, and are called to make disciples. Discipleship, in Faith's understanding, is a set of behaviors God has done for us in Christ and that the body of Christ enacts in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit: hospitality, reconciliation, advocacy, proclamation, generosity, intercession, praise and thanksgiving, and blessing.
Worship is described as "the primary means by which we know and live Christ as individuals-in-community." Christian Education, including the preschool, is "also a vital place where we learn the Word." Human Care is the practical outworking: advocacy, intercession, and acts of service that bring forgiveness, life, and salvation to neighbors near and far. The same discipleship behaviors are formed in worship and Christian education and practiced in Human Care, so that the three values reinforce one another.
Bible Study and Christian Education
The 9:45 am Sunday school hour is the backbone of a lifelong learning culture. The congregation also offers a Wednesday Night program during the week, with Bible study and fellowship grouped around classes such as a women's Bible study on Galatians, a young adult Bible class, and a quarterly Lectionary Bible Class that walks through the appointed texts. A "Faith Family Daily Liturgy" is published for use at home: a simple gathering around highs and lows of the day, a hymn, readings from the lectionary, a short reflection, and a prayer pattern that lifts blessings and concerns to the Lord.
Subscriptions to the Lutheran Witness, the magazine of the LC-MS, are organized through the congregation, and Lutheran Hour Ministries is among the resources promoted in the bulletin. Adult instruction for those preparing to join the church is offered through periodic New Member Classes.
Human Care and the Outreach Calendar
Human Care is the lived expression of the faith at Faith. Each quarter, the congregation selects a Mission of the Quarter, and worship services advocate for the partner organization, with human-care dedication rites opening each quarter. The Director of Human Care, Allyssa (Guynes) Biedinger, oversees a network of standing ministries that meet in and around the church throughout the week.
Recurring gatherings include Prayer Warriors on Mondays, the Lutheran World Relief Quilters on the first Tuesday of each month, Helping Hands on the second Tuesday (the local chapter of Lutheran Women in Mission), Heartfelt Stitchers on Thursdays (who craft blankets for outreach), Bags to Mats on the first and third Fridays, and a weekly Grief Support Group on Wednesdays. Sunshine Friends sends cards to homebound and shut-in members. A Senior Action Team serves as a flexible, action-oriented group that responds to ongoing and emerging human-care needs and leads fellowship efforts tailored to seniors.
Strategic Partners Around Williamson County
Faith supports a wide circle of partners that share in the work of Human Care. Current strategic partners include American Heritage Girls and Trail Life (youth character organizations chartered through the church), Rock House, Isaiah 117 House (which serves children awaiting foster placement), The Caring Place, Meals on Wheels, and the Wilco Women's Center, formerly the Pregnancy Help Center of Williamson County. The Red Door Kitchen in Georgetown is a recent partnership for feeding those in need.
The congregation also engages broader Lutheran relief efforts. Personal care kits have been assembled for Lutheran World Relief, with one push specifically directed to relief supplies for Venezuela. Drives for peanut butter and jelly, bulk snacks, and baby bottles are scheduled through the year, and the Upbring New Life Center has been the focus of a Helping Hands collection. BBQ fundraisers, lemonade stands, and garage sales support ministries including American Heritage Girls and Trail Life. Volunteers gather for work days to maintain the campus, and Christmas-in-Christmas and the annual Wendish Fest appear on the community calendar.
Faith Lutheran Preschool
Faith Lutheran Preschool shares the Williams Drive campus and is faithfully oriented around the reading and teaching of God's Word. Kristi Marriott serves as Superintendent of Preschool and Children's Ministry, coordinating the early-childhood program that introduces young families to the congregation. The preschool is treated as Christian education in its most formative form, with the church counting preschool attendance among the measures of Christian-education engagement alongside Sunday school sign-in sheets and other learning offerings.
Bags to Mats: Recycling with a Purpose
One of the most distinctive outreach ministries at Faith is Bags to Mats. The group began in 2020 with two goals: provide sleeping mats for people experiencing homelessness, and recycle clean plastic grocery bags to keep them out of landfills and the ocean. Volunteers collect, fold, cut, and loop bags into "plarn" (plastic yarn), which is then crocheted into mats approximately 39 by 72 inches using a size Q hook. The finished mats are dense, soft, waterproof, and resistant to fleas, lice, and bed bugs; about 77,000 bags have been recycled since the ministry began, and 110 mats have been distributed through LINC Austin, which serves people experiencing homelessness in the Austin area.
Bags to Mats meets in room C-101 on the first and third Fridays at 10:00 am, with the schedule reduced to the third Friday only during the summer. Participation does not require attending meetings - bags can be folded and cut at home - and the ministry is open to anyone, whether or not they are a member of Faith.
Senior Ministries and Stephen Ministry
Faith Senior Ministries hosts regular gatherings for older members, ranging from chair yoga and barbershop quartets with ice cream socials to themed programs and outings. A monthly Men's Breakfast has moved to a new location, gathering men from the church for food and fellowship. The Women of Faith Monthly Luncheon brings women together around a shared meal, and Helping Hands, the local Lutheran Women in Mission chapter, meets on the second Tuesday of each month to organize mission support.
Stephen Ministry at Faith is in its fifth decade of caring for people in times of need. The congregation is currently celebrating fifty years of Stephen Ministry, a one-to-one lay caring ministry that walks alongside individuals experiencing crisis, grief, or transition.
Children, Youth, and Family Discipleship
Faith's ministry to children and youth extends well beyond the preschool and Sunday school hour. American Heritage Girls and Trail Life troops are chartered through the congregation, with their own open houses, Court of Awards ceremonies, and service projects. MomCo (formerly MOPS) meets on the church campus, offering mothers of young children a place for fellowship and play, including events like "MomCo Popsicles and Play." The High School Youth Group publishes a monthly Echo newsletter, and Coffee, Conversations, and Chapel gatherings give youth and families a casual entry into midweek worship.
Visitation Pastor Walt Pohland, together with Misty Fisher as Coordinator of Visitation Ministries, oversees pastoral contact with members who are homebound, hospitalized, or otherwise unable to attend worship. The Director of Human Care coordinates the broader network of practical care that surrounds these visits.
The Columbarium
The Faith Lutheran Church columbarium was dedicated on January 19, 2025, and niches are now available for purchase. The columbarium offers bronze urns, up to two per niche, with engraving of up to two names and dates on the niche cover. Eligible persons include members of Faith and their spouses, the parents and children of members, and pastors who have served the congregation. The Rite of Inurnment is conducted according to the Christian form of worship and under the supervision of the pastoral office. The current price per niche is $2,000 and includes the niche, urns, engraving, maintenance, and the opening and closing of the niche cover.
Faith's 500 and the Membership Directory
Each week, the church averages around 500 people across its two Sunday services. That number gave the Faith's 500 initiative its name: a project that aims to see 500 people engaging Christian Education and 500 engaging Human Care each week, alongside the 500 who already gather for worship. The online membership directory, called the Faith Family Directory, supports this community-of-500 vision with up-to-date contact information and a photo directory through the Instant Church Directory app.
Plan a Visit
Faith Lutheran Church is located at 4010 Williams Drive, Georgetown, TX 78628. From Austin, drivers take exit 262 toward RM 2338 and Lake Georgetown, head north on the I-35 frontage road, and turn west at the signal onto RR 2338/Williams Drive, continuing about two and a third miles to the church. From Dallas, the same exit brings drivers south on the frontage road before turning right (west) onto RR 2338/Williams Drive for the same final stretch. Worship is at 8:15 and 11:00 am on Sundays, with Bible classes and Sunday school at 9:45 am and nursery care provided throughout the morning. Services are livestreamed for those who wish to participate from home, and giving is available online.
The staff who shepherd this work include Associate Pastor Rev. Dr. James Marriott, who serves as liturgist, proclaimer, and organist; Director of Christian Education Austin Angerman; Director of Human Care Allyssa (Guynes) Biedinger; Visitation Pastor Walt Pohland; and Superintendent of Preschool and Children's Ministry Kristi Marriott. Together with the many volunteers who teach, sing, lay-read, sew, cook, visit, and lead, they keep the congregation's three values - Worship, Christian Education, and Human Care - in motion every week, looking to live out its motto: Know Christ, Live Christ, Make Christ Known.