Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church has a
52-year history of ministry in southwest Houston. The congregation first met
in 1954 as a cottage church in the home of Pastor-Developer M. K. Blackman.
The first worship service as an organized congregation was held February 20, 1955 at
Shearn Elementary School. Later the congregation built a house-chapel in Willow Meadows
(now Mrs. Wagner's School at Cliffwood and McDermed). The first unit (the present worship
space) on the West Bellfort site was dedicated December 13, 1959. Pastor Blackman served
the congregation until 1981; Pastor David A. Roschke began his ministry at Salem in 1982.
When first organized, Salem was a congregation of the
United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA). In 1962, the church body merged
to form the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). After another merger in
1988, Salem became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), the fourth largest Protestant denomination in North America.
The Rev. Dr. Mark Hanson is the presiding bishop of the ELCA;
headquarters are in Chicago. We are in the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast
Synod (commonly referred to as the Gulf Coast Synod) of the ELCA. The Rev.
Paul J. Blom is our synod bishop.
