Our Story

Cross of Christ begins in March of 1982 when a task force looked at the feasibility of a new mission to serve the southern sector of Dallas County (DeSoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, Lancaster, etc.) Rev. Craig Schinnerer was commissioned as Missionary-at-Large in August 1983 and the church's first service was held at the DeSoto Lions Club on October 9, 1983.

The next year, Reverend Schinnerer and 164 charter members formally founded Cross of Christ Lutheran Church. It was one of the largest congregations to be formed in the history of Texas Lutheranism!  Charter Sunday for Cross of Christ was held on March 25, 1984. 

Afterwards, the church experienced exponential growth with the school and within the congregation. The first school and sanctuary of the church were built on their current site of 5.5 acres off of Cockrell Hill Road in DeSoto in 1985. In 1993, the church expanded its building with a beautiful, much larger sanctuary, capable of holding up to 500 people. Our sanctuary is one of the few to also include a wonderful 14 rank pipe organ! The organ was dedicated on February 24, 2002.

Cross of Christ Lutheran Church is affiliated with The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), which as a a total membership near three million. The word "Synod" in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod comes from the Greek words that mean "walking together."  It has rich meaning in our church body because the congregations voluntarily choose to belong to the Synod.  Diverse in their service, these congregations hold to a shared confession of Jesus Christ as taught in Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. Well known for its emphasis on Biblical doctrine and faithfulness to the historic Lutheran Confessions, the Synod also seeks new ways of proclaiming the Gospel.

 

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