St. Luke's Church celebrated 240 years in service of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 2016. Although 1776 is the official founding year for the church, our history goes back to the 1750's and the present-day area of Macpelah. The congregation was called by various names including Killian Settlement, Cataber, Lebanon, Liberty  and Ore Bank Church because of the rich iron deposits found in the surrounding hills.


The first Church was built of logs in 1857. The name St. Luke's was chosen in 1858. A wood frame Church was built soon after. That stood until 1974 when the current Church was erected. A wooden cross, hanging over the altar, was fashioned from the boards of the old Church, as is the altar top and railings.

In 1775 the Rev. Johann Gottfried Arends, a teacher from Goettingen, Germany, the first ordained Lutheran minister in North Carolina and the first president of the North Carolina Synod of the Lutheran Church, became the congregation’s first pastor. St. Luke's is the oldest Lutheran congregation in Lincoln County, NC.

The congregation dedicated a free standing Family Life Center in September, 2009. The facility serves the community in many ways.

St. Luke’s is affiliated with the Southeastern District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It is located ¼ mile south of Highway 150 on King Wilkinson Road in rural Lincoln County, North Carolina.