A Church on County Home Road Since 1893
Mount Zion Lutheran Church has stood along County Home Road in Conover for more than 130 years, its sanctuary and grounds a familiar landmark in the rolling countryside of Catawba County. The congregation takes its name from the mountain in scripture and, in its own words, seeks to "celebrate and share the good news of God's unconditional love with all people through word and deed." Mt. Zion is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and worship, music, and hands-on service to neighbors are the three threads that have run through its life since the first charter families cut logs and hauled them to the sawmill to build their first frame church in 1893.
The congregation was organized in 1893 after several local families, tired of traveling by foot, buggy, or wagon to Lutheran churches in Conover, Newton, and Hickory, asked the Rev. J.H. Rexrode to serve them. They first met in the old Charity School house on the Ned Sipe property, holding worship outdoors under the trees when weather allowed. A building committee of William Dellinger, Freeman Huffman, William (Billy) Killian, and chairman Titus Sipe oversaw construction of a 30-by-50-foot frame structure, which was dedicated on June 3, 1894, by Rev. Rexrode and visiting pastors from Hickory Seminary. The thirteen charter families chose the name Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and joined the joint Synod of Ohio and Tennessee. The Archives Room in the present administration building still holds the records of that beginning, and members are welcome to add to the collection.
Today the church is known for several things its members wear lightly: a love of sacred music and a fine pipe organ, a robust community garden that feeds local food pantries, a women's knitting group that makes caps for chemotherapy patients, an intergenerational Vacation Bible School shared with neighboring congregations, a handbell choir called the Joyful Ringers, and a Scout troop that still meets in a stone building constructed by the masons and builders of earlier generations. As one of Lutherock's founding church families and a long-time partner of Sipe's Orchard Home and the Catawba County Relay for Life, Mt. Zion sees itself as a quiet, practical steward of relationships near and far.
Worship at the Center
Worship is the gravitational center of life at Mt. Zion. The congregation gathers every Sunday at 10:30 AM in the sanctuary, and the same service is shared online through Facebook Live and broadcast by radio in the parking lot for those who prefer to remain in their cars. Archived services remain available on the church's YouTube channel, Mt Zion Conover.
The liturgy follows a four-part rhythm drawn from the hymnals Evangelical Lutheran Worship and All Creation Sings: Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending. Each Sunday includes congregational hymn singing, prayers, readings from the Old and New Testaments, a children's message, a Scripture-based sermon, and Holy Communion. Communion is open to anyone who professes the Christian faith. Most weeks it is shared by intinction, with worshipers coming forward pew by pew to dip the wafer into a common chalice. On the first Sunday of each month and on other select Sundays, communion is distributed by station, with the choice of an individual cup or the common cup. Gluten-free wafers are available, and those who cannot come forward can ask an usher to bring the elements to them. Children who have not yet been trained for communion are welcome to receive a blessing.
A nursery for infants through age three is staffed every Sunday and looks out over the sanctuary through a window. Children of all ages are welcome to stay in worship, and worship bags with an interactive bulletin and a coloring sheet are available in the narthex. Children serve as lectors, members of the procession, and offering helpers, and they lead the dismissal at the end of each service. Worship helpers come from the pews as well as the chancel: members serve as worship assistants, lectors, Bible bearers, crucifers, and acolytes, while the Altar Guild and the Worship and Music Committee care for the sanctuary and plan each service together.
Music as a Living Tradition
Music is woven into nearly everything Mt. Zion does. The Adult Choir rehearses on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM and sings from September through Holy Trinity Sunday in May or June, leading congregational singing, offering anthems and hymn arrangements, and joining occasional choral workshops and joint choir events in the community. The Joyful Ringers, the church's handbell choir, rehearses on Wednesdays at 6:00 PM in the balcony and rings from September to May. During the summer months, an Intergenerational Summer Choir gathers one Sunday a month in June, July, and August, with singers meeting at 9:30 AM to prepare music for that morning's 10:30 worship service.
Trained cantors lead the Psalm singing and liturgy, and the organ and piano serve as the primary instruments, joined at various times by guitar, ukulele, brass, woodwinds, and strings. The sanctuary's pipe organ is a Julian E. Bulley instrument built in 1977 on an original M. P. Möller of 1962. The organist, Tim Warren, a Hickory native and Lenoir-Rhyne graduate, has served Mt. Zion since July 1978, after twelve years on the Lenoir-Rhyne faculty and fifteen years as rehearsal accompanist for the Catawba Valley Community Chorus. Tawny Homesley directs the overall music program and serves as the Children's Ministry Coordinator, holding a Bachelor of Arts in sacred music and religious studies from Lenoir-Rhyne University and a Master of Sacred Music from Luther Seminary in St. Paul.
Children, Youth, and Family Faith Formation
Children and youth are given a real place at Mt. Zion. Family Faith Formation gathers children from birth through fifth grade and their parents and grandparents once a month after worship for a shared meal, Bible study, prayer, and a service project. These monthly gatherings run from September through April, with December set aside for the children to lead an Advent worship service, and May reserved for a picnic and playground time. Each family also goes home with resources to continue faith formation around the kitchen table during the week.
Vacation Bible School is a hallmark of the summer and a partnership between Mt. Zion and several other local churches. Held Sunday through Thursday evenings each July for children ages four through completed fifth grade, VBS includes dinner each night along with rotations of Bible story, crafts, and games, an adult Bible class that follows the same theme, and a local mission project. Around Mt. Zion, the week is known simply as "one of the best weeks of summer."
Each December the children and youth lead an Advent worship service, serving as lectors, ushers, communion assistants, prayer leaders, and storytellers, followed by a cookie reception in the Fellowship Hall. In the spring, the Children's Easter Party brings children and families together the weekend before Easter for a retelling of the Easter story, games, crafts, and an egg hunt, and the church is glad to welcome neighbors from the wider community for both occasions.
Hands at Work: Service and Creation Care
Service is not a program at Mt. Zion so much as a way of life lived out by small, steady groups. The Mad Hatters take yarn and turn it into love, knitting caps each year for patients undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments and distributing them to local medical practices and individuals in need. The Quilters carry on a long needle-and-thread tradition, sewing patchworks of color and pattern into soft, light blankets that are donated locally and shipped to communities in need around the world. Caring for Creation looks after the earth entrusted to the congregation by sharing practical tips on energy conservation and resource use, picking up trash along a stretch of dedicated road each month, and collecting batteries and other hazardous waste to keep them out of landfills.
The Church Garden is one of the most visible expressions of this calling. A seasoned crew of gardeners and farmers prepares the land, sows the seeds, tends the plants, and harvests hundreds of pounds of fresh produce each year for local food pantries and kitchens. The members who work the soil understand feeding the body and nourishing the soul as a single act of care.
Several times a year the congregation serves at the Ashure ministry and The Corner Table, and Mt. Zion is a long-time neighbor and partner of Sipe's Orchard Home. The church is also one of Lutherock's founding church families.
Adult Life: Study, Fellowship, and Care
Adult faith formation meets on Sunday mornings at 9:15 AM in the Fellowship Hall, a time of prayer, support, and conversation about what it means to follow Jesus in daily life. The Mt. Zion Caring Ministry reaches out to members who are sick, homebound, or facing special care needs, sending cards, making calls, visiting, and offering practical support that puts God's love into action.
The XYZ Club, whose name comes from the phrase "Extra Youthful Zest," is a lively group of seniors and retirees who gather on the second Tuesday of each month at 11 AM in the Fellowship Hall, welcoming guest speakers on relevant topics and ending their time together with a potluck or a trip to a local restaurant. Women in Mission, the local expression of the Women of the ELCA, meet on the second Tuesday at 6:30 PM in the Administration Building. They coordinate bereavement meals, monthly collections for local ministries, outreach to homebound members, and fundraisers for special needs in the church and community.
The Wider Community: Partners and Gatherings
Each year in late May or early June, Mt. Zion turns out in force for the Catawba County Relay for Life, raising thousands of dollars for cancer research and relief, keeping a presence on the track through the day and night, and holding vigil for those who have battled and lost and those who have battled and won. For many decades the church has also supported Scout Troop 235, which meets on Monday evenings in a stone building constructed by the masons and builders of earlier generations and now welcomes both young men and women.
Annual gatherings knit the year together. October brings Homecoming Sunday, a time to honor the past, give thanks for the present, and look to the future, with former members, pastors, and staff joining the congregation for worship and a shared lunch. The Awesome Autumn Adventure fall festival opens the doors to the wider community with trunk-or-treat, games, crafts, food, and face painting. A congregational cookout in the warmer months sets up tents and grills and brings generations together for yard games and unhurried conversation.
Pastoral Leadership and a Place to Begin
The senior pastor is the Rev. Dr. Deborah L. Frye, who has served congregations in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina across twenty-seven years of parish ministry. A Hickory native and Lenoir-Rhyne University graduate, Pastor Debbie attended Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, and later received her Doctor of Ministry from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond while serving in Virginia. She is a nature lover at heart, often found swimming at the YMCA in Conover or paddleboarding on Lake Hickory.
The church's main entrance is on the right side of the building as you turn in from County Home Road, marked by a large covered driveway where guests can be dropped off. Abundant parking surrounds the sanctuary, with reserved spaces for visitors near the main entrance and accessible spaces and easy thresholds throughout. The sanctuary has no required stairs. Restrooms are accessible from the narthex, and greeters and ushers are on hand to welcome worshipers and hand out bulletins. Attire ranges widely; members and visitors are equally welcome in their Sunday best or in something more casual. The order of worship typically lasts about an hour to an hour and a half, and printed bulletins guide worshipers through every part of the service. The office, located in the brick house behind the sanctuary, is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM and on Wednesdays from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
Across more than 130 years, Mount Zion has remained what it has always been: a place where neighbors gather, music rises, children learn the stories of faith, and a small country congregation sends its members and its love out into Catawba County and beyond.