Our History
In the 1980s, there was no Missouri Synod Lutheran Church in Shiawassee County. Michigan District approached St. Andrew in Genesee County to explore starting a mission church in Shiawassee. After several meetings during the Summer of 1986, the first official church service was held December 1986.
We had a lot of help from several Lutheran Congregations getting started including Pastoral, Administrative, and financial. For several years we struggled as a county mission church, moving several times, with several Pastors. In 1988, officially joined LCMS as a member congregation, named St. Philip Lutheran Church of Owosso.
In 1996 we moved to our current location at the corner of Oliver and Water Street in Owosso, MI. Also, at that time, we called our current Pastor from Seminary, Reverend Brian Heidt.
Hi, I’m Pastor Brian Heidt.
I am a native Michigander, raised in Brighton and Fenton and went to school at BOTH U of M and MSU (no favorites here). I studied Philosophy and German and worked in a machine shop. I was a High School exchange student to Japan and that is how I met my wife Denise. It was an AFS get together in Fenton and we all went out to see “Footloose” and that started it all. It was a long haul to get married as she went back to go to school and I went to Seminary and studied in Germany as well; we had a real long distance relationship. But eventually we got married and had two kids Anna Sophia and Frederick who have gone off to college (Anna in Boston and Frederick in Colorado Springs) and marriage for Anna to Mohsen and life in Los Angeles. So we are now empty nesters (sadly).
I fill my time with taking care of the congregation, helping people in it with handyman stuff, and walking our little ferocious fluffball of a dog, Cimorene. I am a pilot and avid flyer. My ’58 Pacer is not quite as fast a ’58 Chevy, but it is a lot of fun. We are working on getting our house all fixed up before age sets in as Denise, my wife, has lots of plans to visit kids often. I am working on restoring a ’69 BSA 441 Victor and hope to have my wife on it soon. We had our first date on a bike! I love to talk about Theology, our Lord Jesus, and anything mechanical. Well that is about it for me, I would love to hear all about YOU.