At 520 Thayer Drive in Richland, Redeemer Lutheran Church is known for three habits that shape its public life: a 9 a.m. Sunday worship service, a gifted music ministry, and a free lunch served every Tuesday. The congregation belongs to the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and traces its beginnings to the wartime community that grew around the Hanford Energy Works. Under Pastor Todd Schroeder, its mission is stated plainly: to share and teach God's Word so that people become believers and committed disciples of Christ.
Sunday at Nine: Liturgy, Communion and Music
At 9 a.m. Sunday, people can worship in person at 520 Thayer Drive or join the livestream on Facebook or YouTube. The service follows a weekly Lutheran liturgy, with singing, prayer, Bible readings, a sermon and Communion every Sunday. Children have a separate message during the service while families remain together for worship. The congregation describes the atmosphere as friendly and welcoming, says that all are welcome, and values enriching worship and gifted music ministry.
Music is a major thread in Redeemer's life. Director of Music Dan Niebuhr came to the church in 1999 after studying music at the University of Wisconsin. Raised in the LCMS in a musical family with a church organist father, he first played periodically for a contemporary service, then expanded his involvement. In 2006 he assumed the choir and organist duties and became Redeemer's Director of Music. His role combines music with the congregation's giftedness, supporting a worship service centered on song, Scripture, prayer and sacrament.
Redeemer added live broadcasting during the opening months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pastor Todd Schroeder, Music Director Dan Niebuhr and an IT specialist installed the equipment, and worship services and Bible studies began reaching people on YouTube around the world. Worship remains available at 9 a.m. Sunday in person and through the church's Facebook and YouTube channels.
Communion anchors the Sunday rhythm. Redeemer celebrates the Lord's Supper every Sunday and teaches that Christ is truly present in the sacrament. The church follows Martin Luther's catechism in asking worshipers to examine themselves: to be sorry for sin, to believe in Christ's real presence, and to rely on the Holy Spirit for help in changing sinful lives. It also teaches that open unrepentance, refusal to be reconciled and participation in non-Christian worship are reasons not to receive the sacrament, as are differing confessions of faith.
A First Visit at Redeemer
For someone attending for the first time, the weekly liturgy makes worship easy to follow. The order includes singing, prayer, Bible readings, a sermon and the separate children's message, and visitors are encouraged to ask an usher, the pastor or another worshiper if they have questions. Redeemer has an informal community, so clothing ranges from jeans and casual shirts to business casual clothes, a Sunday dress or a suit and tie. The church says the condition of the heart matters more than what is in the closet.
Children are explicitly welcome. Families are invited to bring children to worship, and their energy, joy and smiles are treated as part of church life. A child who is busy or making joyful noise is not a problem; children have a message of their own during the service. Sunday School classes are offered through fifth grade, with the precise age range changing from year to year.
Parking is straightforward. The church lot is behind the building, and the driveway sits between Redeemer and Carmichael Middle School. The church office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday is the pastor's day off, and the office is closed Saturday. For people who cannot attend in person, worship is livestreamed through Redeemer's Facebook and YouTube channels.
Compassion Kitchen's Free Tuesday Lunch
Every Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m., Compassion Kitchen serves a free lunch at 520 Thayer Drive. The meal is described as healthy and nutritious, and it is intended for people who cannot afford a meal as well as people who are homeless. This ministry turns the church's serving emphasis into a fixed weekly meal rather than an occasional response to need.
The wider church-family rhythm includes Christmas decorating, spring and fall yard cleanup, planting flowers near the outdoor sign and office window, game nights and potlucks. These shared tasks place service alongside fellowship and give families and other congregants regular ways to work together. Financial giving is also available online, so support can be offered alongside the time and hands-on work the church shares with others.
Learning from Sunday School through Adult Study
Redeemer organizes learning across childhood and adulthood. Sunday School classes run through fifth grade, although the upper age changes with the children present. Children normally begin confirmation in sixth grade and are confirmed after two years of instruction. Confirmation renews the promises made on behalf of sponsors at baptism, connecting classroom learning to the church's sacramental life.
Wednesday Bible Study meets from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and is omitted during Advent and Lent. Different leaders guide the class, and topics range from a biblical book to foundational doctrine, current events and subjects such as the Lord's Prayer, Confession and Absolution. The wider learning rhythm also includes Sunday morning and Thursday afternoon studies, plus an occasional evening study with the pastor. In summer, a short early-evening study, usually three weeks, is designed as a working study and includes pizza.
Vacation Bible School is another part of Redeemer's educational life, with storytelling, opening and closing sessions, crafts, snacks, games and music. Children's learning is woven through worship, Sunday School, confirmation and a larger summer program rather than treated as a separate school enterprise.
Men, Women, Seniors and the Church Family
Men meet for breakfast and Bible study on the second Saturday of each month from September through May, beginning at 9 a.m. The group also looks for small handyman projects inside and outside the church. Women participate through Lydia Guild and a weekly Thursday-afternoon Bible study during the same September-to-May season. Lydia Guild carries out mission projects throughout the year, connecting study and service.
Seniors gather for a luncheon at noon once each month from September through May. These recurring breakfast, study, mission and lunch gatherings give different parts of the congregation distinct ways to spend time together, while the shared work of service remains visible in projects for the church and for people beyond it.
Reach Outfitters and Practical Care
Reach Outfitters is Redeemer's second major service ministry. Its mission is to deliver hope and encouragement alongside household furnishings to people in transitional care and others in need. Working with case managers and facility managers, the ministry identifies items families require, often using the checklist for a first apartment. Furnishings come through garage sales, estate sales, pre-sale and post-sale culling, senior move managers and Redeemer members.
Volunteers pick up, temporarily store, clean, test and deliver items when they can arrange transportation, and paid services are used when volunteers are unavailable. Deliveries also carry practical provisions and the church's best wishes and prayers. Reach Outfitters partners with community ministries and organizations such as Elijah Family Homes, iMPACT! Compassion Center, Mirror Ministries and Continuous Care, helping supply the practical items that support changed lives.
Congregational Care focuses on practical support within the congregation. Its offerings include visits to people in assisted living or at home, rides to worship and church activities, meals during recovery from injury, illness or surgery, yard work, grab bars, handrails and wheelchair ramps. The ministry also lends wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and shower chairs, prepares and blesses comfort quilts, and provides DVDs of services for people who cannot watch online.
Baptism, Marriage and Memorial Care
Redeemer gives baptism the weight of a gift from God. The church teaches that baptism connects a person to Jesus' perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, bringing saving faith, forgiveness, abundant life and the promise of heaven. Baptisms for infants and children are encouraged during worship, while teenagers and adults may also be baptized. Families are guided through promises to raise a child in faith, participate in Christian worship and choose godparents or sponsors who will model, teach and pray for the child.
Marriages are prepared rather than simply scheduled. Redeemer teaches marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman and requires couples to be members in good standing, complete premarital counseling and pray together about their relationship. A meeting with the pastor covers the wedding information and the Prepare-Enrich inventory before the date is finalized.
Memorial services are planned with the family and pastor. Families can incorporate a favorite song or instrument, cherished Bible verses, floral arrangements, photographs, photo boards and other mementos that reflect a loved one's interests or vocation. Several reception options are available in the parish hall after the service. Together, these three areas of church life show how Redeemer surrounds birth, marriage and death with Scripture, prayer and support.
Born in Wartime Richland
Redeemer's story begins in 1944, when feverish home building in Richland housed workers for the Manhattan Project. The federal government had acquired Richland, White Bluffs, Hanford and nearby farms for the secret Hanford Energy Works, displacing residents from many parts of the country. The Northwest District commissioned retired pastor Rev. Wert Janssen to conduct worship for this uprooted population. As the number of worshipers grew, the congregation called Rev. Reinhold Jaech from Tacoma, who was installed in October 1944. Redeemer was officially chartered on January 22, 1945.
Early meetings took place at Lewis and Clark School. When that room became too small, the congregation petitioned the government for a separate building and received a former Seventh Day Adventist church that had been converted to storage. Members prepared it for worship in ten days. By 1949, Redeemer was leasing land along Thayer Drive from the government; volunteers did much of the work as construction began in 1950. A renovation in 1988 created space for improved Christian education, fellowship and administration.
The congregation bought the leased land in 1955 and built its parsonage in 1956, the first home in Richland built on privately owned land. Its walk-out basement had provided Sunday School space until 1982. A new church building was erected in 1963 and serves as the worship and Christian education facility; it was renovated and enlarged in 2005.
Redeemer's pastoral succession spans Rev. Reinhold Jaech, 1944 to 1948; Rev. Edward Imme, 1948 to 1951; Rev. Walter Wendland Sr., 1952 to 1966; Rev. Mervin Kellerman, 1966 to 1980; vacancy pastor Rev. William Haak, 1980 to 1982; Rev. Laurence Meyer, 1982 to 2005; intentional interim pastor Rev. Loel Haak, 2005 to 2006; and Rev. Todd Schroeder, who has served since 2006.
The congregation's history includes volunteers with wide influence. Evelyn Hartman served as president of the International Lutheran Women's Missionary League from 1967 to 1971. Teacher Art Dawald coached many of Richland High School's most successful basketball teams until 2023 and was known around the state as a legendary figure in high school basketball. Meyer also served as Northwest District vice-president from 1985 to 1988 and 1994 to 2009. Redeemer's Lydia Guild has hosted or co-hosted Washington-Alaska District LWML conventions, while the Men's Club hosted a Washington-Alaska Lutheran Laymen's League convention for Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Confessions of a Confessional Congregation
Redeemer is a confessional church. It holds the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in The Book of Concord to be the correct interpretation and presentation of biblical doctrine. Those statements were written by Martin Luther and other church reformers during the 16th century. Redeemer affirms the Old and New Testaments in their entirety as the inspired Word of God, God's redemption of mankind through Jesus' life and death on the cross, the Triune God, humanity's creation and fall into sin, and the resurrection of all people. It teaches that believers in Christ will be raised to heaven and unbelievers will receive eternal damnation.
The teaching of Luther and the reformers is summarized in three phrases: grace alone, Scripture alone and faith alone. Grace alone means that God loves sinners and sent Jesus to save the ungodly. Scripture alone identifies the Bible as the inerrant and infallible Word and the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine. Faith alone means that Jesus' suffering and death purchased forgiveness and eternal life for all people, and that God creates faith in Christ and gives forgiveness through him.
Redeemer connects those three emphases with worship and service, describing the church's goal as forming believers and committed disciples through the Word, the Holy Spirit, love and service.
Partners in the Gospel
The Lutheran Women's Missionary League is an official auxiliary of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod that has worked since 1942 to affirm women's relationships with Christ, equip women for active mission ministries and support global missions. Its stated areas are mission education, inspiration and service, including grants for mission needs. Redeemer participates through Lydia Guild, whose mission projects extend beyond the congregation.
Redeemer also recognizes the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, a ministry-through-investment organization. LCEF pools investments from people and congregations, loans funds to LCMS organizations and rostered church workers, and provides facility-planning services. Its larger aim is to help LCMS churches and schools build while keeping money and services available for the church's work of sharing the Gospel.
Pastor Todd and the Continuing Visitation Ministry
Pastor Todd's path to ministry came through science. Born in Berlin, Wisconsin, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in microbiology at the University of Wisconsin and worked at the Blood Research Institute and Medical College of Wisconsin, studying children with sickle cell anemia while pursuing a doctorate. As research funding neared its end, he reflected on entering ministry and combining science with theology. He and his wife Gina were married in 1998; his interests outside church life include photography, golf, reading and yard work.
Pastor Emeritus Laurence Meyer grew up in eastern Iowa and studied at Concordia College, Concordia Senior College and Concordia Seminary. After 16 years as a pastor in southern Minnesota, he served Redeemer for 23 years. In retirement he remains Visitation Pastor, serving people in assisted-living facilities and those confined to their homes, and has supplied pulpit help to churches in the Columbia Basin during pastoral vacancies.
Teach, Equip and Serve
Redeemer expresses its mission through three verbs: teach, equip and serve. Teaching rests on the Great Commission of Matthew 28, strengthening faith through instruction in the Holy Spirit. Equipping gives people the tools needed for a life of discipleship, both within the family of faith and among those outside it. Service is for all people: the church proclaims that God loves humanity, died for humanity and gives eternal life to those who believe, and it seeks to meet people where they are with comfort, grace and love. Redeemer Lutheran Church exists to share and teach God's Word so that people become believers and committed disciples of Christ.