Resurrection Lutheran Church sits on the southwest corner of Park and Independence in Plano, across the street from Plano Senior High School. The congregation has worshipped at 1919 Independence Parkway since 1993, but its roots go back to a Palm Sunday service at Christie Elementary School in April 1974, when 168 people gathered as a brand-new mission. Today Resurrection is an ELCA congregation known for its alternating Classic and New Spirit worship services, its Reuter pipe organ, a 60-compartment columbarium, and a sprawling network of caring ministries that extends from a quilting group to a lay Stephen Ministry team of fourteen.
A Mission Church on a Cotton Patch
The Lutheran Church in America, one of the three merging bodies that would form the ELCA, sent Pastor Arlyn Tolzmann to develop the new mission in October 1973. The first service, on Palm Sunday, April 7, 1974, was held at Christie Elementary School. The next year the congregation approved a $350,000 building proposal, and groundbreaking began on September 26, 1976.
Early members remember dirt roads and a cotton patch on the site of the first church building. The cotton boll became a recurring symbol of the location, and the butterfly, a traditional sign of Christ's Resurrection, eventually gave the church's newsletter its name, the Butterflier. At one point Resurrection was the fastest-growing mission in the Lutheran Church of America.
After several more groundbreaking ceremonies, the congregation moved into its current facility in July 1993. The sanctuary seats 550 to 625 people, and the chapel holds another 75 to 90. The 50th anniversary memoir, published in August 2025, captures this long arc, and a 50th anniversary celebration, themed "Rooted in Faith; Growing in Grace," took place over a long weekend in late September 2024 with a concert, banquet, worship service, and open house.
The pastoral record tells its own story of growth. Pastor Tolzmann was followed by a succession of associate pastors and senior pastors. Rev. William Jon Irons accepted the call as Senior Pastor in July 2015. Before seminary, Pastor Bill worked in physics; after Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary he served parishes in Fort Worth and Garden Ridge, and spent many years in outdoor ministry running Lutheran camps and retreat centers across the Southwest.
Two Styles of Worship, One Lutheran Service
Sunday worship at Resurrection begins at 10:00 a.m. and is offered both in person and online through the congregation's YouTube channel. Every other week the format alternates between two styles.
Classic Worship follows the full Evangelical Lutheran Worship liturgy, led primarily by the pipe organ. It carries the traditional trappings of Lutheran worship, including the historic creeds, the prayers of intercession, and a sermon rooted in the day's lectionary readings.
New Spirit Worship keeps the full Lutheran liturgical skeleton, all the lessons and prayers, a sermon, and communion each week, but presents it in a less formal style. Robes are set aside and the music is led by an ensemble of singers with piano, guitar, and drums. The repertoire runs from traditional hymns to contemporary Christian music. The leadership describes the New Spirit service as Lutheran at its core, with a re-formed style.
Holy Communion is celebrated at every worship service, regardless of which style is on the schedule. Worshippers receive the sacrament in individual glasses and from shared vessels. Visitors do not need to be familiar with the Lutheran hymnal; almost the entire service is printed in the bulletin or projected on the screens, and ushers hand out bulletins as people arrive.
Worship follows the Revised Common Lectionary, the three-year cycle of readings shared by Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, and others. The lectionary lessons are accompanied each week by intercessory prayers written for the assembly.
Music and the Reuter Organ
Music is woven into everything Resurrection does. The Chancel Choir sings at the Classic service about twice a month and on festival Sundays, with rehearsals on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the choir room. No audition is required.
The Sounds of Joy handbell choir rings at both Classic and New Spirit services, about twice a month and on festival Sundays. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. in the sanctuary.
The New Spirit house band rehearses at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of the service and includes three guitarists and about five singers. They are hoping to add a drummer, a bass player, and other instrumentalists.
The instrument they accompany is the Faithful Servant Leadership Organ, a Reuter organ (Opus 1369) originally built for Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. When the sanctuary was constructed in 1994, an open chamber over the sacristy was specifically planned for a pipe organ. The Reuter instrument was purchased in 2014, returned to the Reuter factory in Kansas for rebuilding, and dedicated on Reformation Sunday, October 25, 2015.
Jim Loeffler directs the music and worship ministry. He joined the staff in 2014 and brings decades of experience as an organist, choral singer with the Orpheus Chamber Singers and the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and a published composer. He earned the Fellow's Certificate from the American Guild of Organists.
A Sanctuary, a Chapel, and a Columbarium
Resurrection's building is laid out to serve many of life's moments, not just Sunday mornings. The main sanctuary seats 550 to 625; the chapel seats 75 to 90 and is often used for smaller services. Wedding and funeral policies are available so families can plan ahead.
A columbarium was added between the sanctuary and the narthex, clad in brown granite and black aluminum. The 6-foot-wide by 5-foot-tall unit holds about 120 cremated remains in 60 separate compartments, with three sizes available and dedicated niches for individual or shared use. The policy and pricing sheet, including samples of plaque options, can be requested from the office.
For funerals, the congregation has put together detailed planning resources: a sample funeral service, scripture suggestions, suggested hymns, and a funeral information form that can be kept on file for pre-planning. Holy Communion is appropriate at a funeral, and Resurrection provides a reception in Fellowship Hall for members and their families. The service itself is free; customary honoraria for the pastor, organist, soloists, and A/V tech are expected.
Learning for Every Age
The Sunday morning rhythm at Resurrection begins with worship at 10:00 a.m. and continues at 11:15 a.m. with Sunday School for all ages. Children ages 3 through 6th grade go directly to their classrooms. Confirmands, senior highers, and adults gather in their own classrooms as well.
For adults, the signature offering is the Narrative Lectionary class, which meets in the library each Sunday at 11:15. The Narrative Lectionary, developed at Luther Seminary, walks chronologically through scripture, beginning in Genesis and moving sequentially through the Old and New Testaments. The class is led as an interactive discussion with commentary and insights from sources such as the Synod's Parish Lay Ministry Academy.
Several weekly Bible studies supplement Sunday School. The Brown Bag Bible Study gathers on Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Room 1 of the Sunday School wing. A Bible Study Group meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the library, working through the bible study from Gather magazine.
Children, Youth, and Confirmation
Children's ministry at Resurrection is led by Betsy Boyd, Director of Children's Ministries and Education. Sunday School classes run by age and stage: a nursery class for ages 1 to 3 with Misti Retan, using the Frolic Stories of the Bible curriculum; Pre-K through third grade in Room 2 led by Claire Blancher and Andy Petrus; and fourth through sixth grade taught by Sallie Diamond and Luke Duval.
Kids Club extends children's ministry beyond Sunday mornings. It gathers children ages 3 through fifth grade for Sunday School at 9:45 a.m. and for monthly events that include games, movies, and community service projects.
Confirmation is led by Pastor Bill with a team of adult mentors and meets at 11:15 a.m. on Sundays, August through May, in the RALLY Room. Students begin in seventh grade and affirm their baptism on Reformation Sunday during their ninth-grade year. Service is built into the program: confirmands are expected to serve as ushers, greeters, or in other roles at least an hour a month. The congregation also encourages a week-long summer camp experience at Ebert Ranch Camp in the Texas Hill Country.
RALLY gathers youth in grades 6 through 8, and RYOT, led by Ann Loeffler, brings together high schoolers in grades 9 through 12, meeting at 11:15 a.m. on Sundays in the RYOT Room. Both groups have their own calendars of events, including retreats, lock-ins, and service projects.
Resurrection also hosts scouting for all ages, with current council and volunteer leadership reflecting active Cub Scout Pack 25 and Scout Troop 25 programs for boys and girls.
Caring Ministries: Stephen Ministry and Share the Care
Two layers of pastoral care operate alongside the pastors' ministry. Resurrection's Stephen Ministry equips lay people to provide confidential, one-to-one Christian care to individuals in the congregation and community who are facing difficulties. Fourteen active Stephen Ministers, each with at least 50 hours of training, are ready to listen, encourage, and remind people of God's presence in their lives. The ministry is free, confidential, and available to anyone in need.
Share the Care, a phrase first used in 2011, gathers many of the congregation's caring ministries under one umbrella. It provides short-term financial help, capped at $500 per request per year, with bills paid directly to the company owed. A transportation team offers rides, primarily to medical appointments and church. Volunteers assist with shopping, laundry, and house or lawn maintenance after hospitalization or serious illness. Prayer quilts, sewn by the Cover Girls, are tied with prayers and given to members facing serious illness. All requests are kept confidential.
Women of the ELCA and the Cover Girls
All women of Resurrection are welcome to participate in the Women of the ELCA. Activities include quarterly luncheons and general meetings with speakers, a book discussion group that meets at 9:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of February, April, June, August, October, and December, a monthly Bible study on the first Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., and the Ladies' Brown Bag 'n' Bible on Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Annual retreats and a January Chili Cookoff and Bingo round out the year.
The Cover Girls Sewing Group meets on Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with sewing machines and batting in their midst. They make Lutheran World Relief quilts that travel around the world as they are needed; during the second quarter they sew quilts for kids and babies, donated to groups such as the Wylie Children's Medical Clinic, The Samaritan Inn, and Children's Medical Center of Plano. Later in the year, members sew items for an Annual Christmas Sale whose proceeds are donated to groups including City House, Hope's Door, and Minnie's Food Pantry.
Impact and Serving the Community
Impact, a newer outreach ministry, helps members share their time and talents while discovering local nonprofits. It coordinates monthly outreach opportunities, both in-person events and service-from-home options. Recent partners have included Feed My Starving Children, the Mount Olive Food Pantry, and Plano ISD's School-Age Parent Program.
Each September the congregation joins the ELCA's "God's Work. Our Hands" Sunday, a long-running day of service that has drawn more than 65 participants to a potluck luncheon followed by a dozen different work projects.
The church's School Supply Project supports students in the Plano area. Members also support Oaks Indian Mission, a Christmas Gift Project, and Blood Drives.
Leadership and Staff
Resurrection is led by Senior Pastor Rev. William Jon Irons, who joined the congregation in July 2015. The Director of Music and Worship is Jim Loeffler, with Ann Loeffler serving as Youth Director for the high school ministry (RYOT). Betsy Boyd is Director of Children's Ministries and Education. Staff can be reached by phone Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 972-867-0460.
The congregation is governed by a Congregation Council, supported by standing committees on Nominating and Human Resources, with council members serving staggered three-year terms. Decisions are anchored in the congregation's purpose statement, "Celebrating the Risen Christ through Acts of Love, Care, and Justice," and the guiding principles of Worship, Learn, Serve, Witness, and Support.
Worship and Visit Notes
The church is located at 1919 Independence Parkway, Plano, Texas 75075, on the southwest corner of Park and Independence. Worship is at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays in person and online; the livestream is available through the congregation's YouTube channel. Sunday School for all ages begins at 11:15 a.m. and includes a nursery for the youngest members. Communion is celebrated every Sunday.
The congregation publishes a weekly Greensheet, distributed with the Sunday bulletin, and a monthly newsletter called the Butterflier. Online giving is available through the church's secure giving platform. Visitors can call the office at 972-867-0460 or use the Contact page for more information.