Helping You Deepen Your Faith
48 Colony Church Rd, Newberry, SC 29108Worship Sundays @ 11:00am in the Sanctuary and on Facebook
Church office hours:
Monday through Friday
9 am to 1 pm
SC SYnod High School Retreat
ONLINE GIVING IS ALWAYS AN OPTION!
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE 2025
YOU’VE INVITED to the Heartland Conference Spring Meeting Sunday, April 27, at St. James’ Lutheran Church, 228 Jalapa Road, beginning at 3pm. Entertainment will be provided by Huger Caughman, Jr. and Hannah Chapman, “Lemonade for Love”.
SC Lutheran Men Skeet Shoot
SC LUTHERAN MEN & Scooter Scott of Lex 2 invite you to a Skeet Shoot Saturday, May 17, at Palmetto State Armory Outdoors Shooting Facility Complex, 1201 Redmond Mill Rd., Swansea beginning at 9am. Participants 18 and under receive one free box of shells to shoot. All others will need to pay for a box of shells. For more information, call Jimmy Smith at 803-730-4637.
2025 SC WELCA Annual Convention Reminder
Sunday Services
We offer Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month and occasional festival Sundays.
There is no dress code. Some people wear suit jackets and ties, others wear blue jeans. Jesus wore a long robe, so who are we judge?
We are a liturgical church, meaning portions of our service are part of the ancient tradition passed down from the early church.
As Lutherans, we talk a lot about “grace.” For Lutherans, God’s grace is the divine mercy, love, and forgiveness we are offered daily. It cannot be earned or bought. We do not deserve it in any way and yet it is given to us daily.
Join us, we would love to have you.
About Us
Members of St. Luke’s and St. Paul’s Lutheran churches in Prosperity and Pomaria founded this congregation in 1845 as a “colony” located halfway between their former churches. Its founding pastor was Rev. William Berley. The first Colony church was built in 1846 using wood from the old St. Luke’s church. Congregants joined the South Carolina Synod on March 2, 1848.
By the early 1850s, Colony members began using the land just NW of the church as a cemetery. A second frame church was constructed here c.1884. In 1957, it was replaced by a brick Gothic Revival sanctuary, where congregants still worship. A year later, Colony called its first full- time pastor, having previously been part of Beth Eden parish. Colony’s fellowship hall was built in 2000.
Colony is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
But what does the ELCA teach about the Bible?
The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God. Inspired by God’s Spirit speaking through their authors, they record and announce God’s revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through them God’s Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world. We accept the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.
How do you use the Bible in worship?
Our worship is steeped in biblical songs and prayers. Sermons at Colony often used the Bible to interpret the Bible. We following the Revised Common Lectionary.
Why do we follow the Revised Common Lectionary?
Each week, we are reading the same lessons as millions of others around the world. Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, and so on. It is an expression of our unity in Christ.
What do I have to do to be saved?
This is the crux of our theology. We cannot save ourselves. If we could save ourselves, if we could be good enough, holy enough, faithful enough, then the Jesus would not have needed to die for us, his sacrifice would have been unnecessary. But we human beings are fallible and foolish. We often choose what is in our best interest over what is in God’s interest, or the interest of our neighbors. The Law acts as a mirror to show us our sinfulness and drives us to our knees so that we will cry out “Lord Jesus save me.” God chooses to save us, not because we are good or righteous. God loves us, and because God loves us, Jesus came to us. Jesus, God-With-Us, dwelled among us, and then allowed himself to be put to death on the cross, to show us the depth of God’s love. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as proof that not even death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We are saved by the grace of God alone.
Our Mission & Vision
Colony’s Mission
Colony’s Vision
About Our Interim Pastor, The Rev. Dr. John L. (Jan) Setzler
Pastor Setzler, with his paternal family roots in Pomaria, SC is a native of Kingstree, SC, a product of a worshipping group of Lutherans too small to organize.
He is a graduate of Presbyterian College, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary and Candler School of Theology, Emory University.
Pastor Setzler served parishes in Clinton, SC; Trenton, NJ; Columbia, SC and Greenwood, SC. He was a member of the staff and faculty of Newberry College from 1979-1993; Dean of the College and VP for Academics when he left to return to parish ministry.
He retired in 1994 after 27 years of active and reserve service as an Army Chaplain (COL).
Pastor Setzler retired in 2009 after 40 years of rostered service in the Church. He served as Interim Pastor of Crossroads Lutheran Mission, Indianland, SC in 2009-2010. From Jan. 2010-Dec.2023 he served as a member of the NovusWay Development staff. He began his service as Colony’s Interim Pastor (part-time) March 3, 2024.
He is the husband of Deacon Staci Gillespie Setzler, an Emergency Room Nurse; father of 2 sons, 8 grandchildren and 3 step-children.
