The Lakeway Church

Glorifying God, Loving Others

2203 Lakeway Blvd. ● Lakeway, TX 78734 ● 512-261-6331 ● Fax:  512-261-7099

The Lakeway Church

The Lakeway Church is a loving Congregation

welcoming members from all Christian traditions,

and honoring God through worship and service. 

• Our Purpose
• What We Do
• What We Believe
• Our History
• Our Organization
• Our Membership
• Our Buildings
• Memorial Gardens
• Sunday Worship Services
• The Lakeway Church Foundation
• Member Services

To glorify God by loving Him and one another while reaching out to all,

leading them to become fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.

To provide a variety of inspirational experiences which enhance the spiritual growth of our congregation while respecting its ecumenical nature.

To present the saving message of Jesus Christ through benevolence and Christian mission outreach, concentrating our resources within our greater Lakeway and Travis County community and with growing attention to others.

To offer an inclusive Christian Education program which focuses on spiritual growth, increases Biblical knowledge and understanding, and offers opportunities for growth in Christian Faith.

To foster a Church-wide fellowship which encourages all Church members to grow closer together as brothers and sisters in Christ through religious and social activities.

To provide pastoral care to individuals and families during times of crisis, loss and transitions.

SCRIPTURE

We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and is the primary source and criterion for the Christian faith. In Scripture we are met by the living Christ and experience His redeeming grace. We believe that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God in our midst whom we trust in life and death.

TRADITION

The ongoing process of God's Spirit transforming human life is the story of the church, and it is our understanding of this tradition which informs and under girds our faith. We understand Tradition to be the history of this ongoing process whereby God’s grace sustains our spirits through the self-giving love of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the overall history of our faith transcends without invalidating the story of any particular denominational tradition.

EXPERIENCE

Some facets of human experience challenge our basic understanding of our Christian faith. It is in this context that the Holy Spirit works with our spirits to assure us of God’s truths. When our experiences of life are informed by the Spirit of God, the Good News of Jesus Christ becomes the foundation of our human experience.

REASON

We believe that God reveals himself through scripture, the words of the prophets, and fully in Jesus Christ. Our experiences of His grace continually surpass the scope of human language and reason. However, we also believe that any disciplined study of God’s Word calls for the careful use of reason. Using our human reason, we read and interpret Scripture, ensure that our Christian witness is clear, ask questions of faith, and seek to understand God and His will for our lives.

THE TRINITY

God is one. He is the living and true God who is everlasting and infinite in power, wisdom, and goodness; the creator and sustainer of all things, both visible and invisible. In the unity of God, we experience three persons –the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who are distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence and power.

God The Father: We believe in the one true, holy, and living God, who is the Eternal Creator and Sustainer of all things visible and invisible. He is infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness and love, and rules with love and grace for our well-being and salvation.

Jesus Christ The Son: We believe in Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, who is both truly God and truly man. Jesus is the eternal Word made flesh who was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. He came to us as a ministering Servant. He lived, suffered, and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. He was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven. He is our eternal Savior and Mediator, who will one day return to establish God’s eternal kingdom, and by Him we will all be judged.

The Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from and is one in being with the Father and the Son. He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He leads those who respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ into the fellowship of the Church. He comforts, sustains and empowers the faithful and guides them into all truth.

JUSTIFICATION AND ASSURANCE: 

We believe that God reaches out to the repentant believer with justifying grace and with accepting and pardoning love. In justification we are, through faith, forgiven our sin and restored to God’s favor. This process of conversion may be sudden and dramatic, or gradual and cumulative. It marks a new beginning, yet it is part of an ongoing process. We embrace the scriptural promise that we can expect to receive assurance of our present salvation as the Spirit "bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."

FAITH AND GOOD WORKS: 

We believe that good works are the natural response of faith, but they do not remove our sins or avert divine judgment. We believe good works spring from a true and living faith, and make our faith evident to the world. As such, these good works are pleasing and acceptable to God.

CHURCH OUTREACH: 

The outreach of the church is in response to the Great Commission and Great Commandment of Jesus Christ. In loving response to God’s gracious act of salvation, we extend our love and the Good News of Jesus Christ to the entire world. We seek to provide caring support, conduct vital religious education, and teach others to obey the commands of Jesus Christ.

THE SACRAMENTS: 

We believe that the Sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper were established by Christ and are vital signs of God’s grace and will for our lives. In these sacraments, we strengthen and confirm our faith in him.

Baptism: Baptism is a sign of profession and mark of difference by which we as Christians are distinguished from others. They are signs our new birth in Jesus Christ. In addition to believer baptism, we affirm those traditions which retain the Baptism of young children in the Church.

The Lord’s Supper: The Supper of the Lord is a sign of the love of Christ, our love for one another, and our redemption by Christ’s death. For those who rightly and worthily accept this sign with faith, the bread which we break is a spiritual partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a spiritual partaking of the blood of Christ. All who accept Jesus Christ as Savior are welcome to participate in this sacrament.

 

Our History

The first organized Protestant worship services in Lakeway were held in late 1969 in the home of Mr. & Mrs. LeRoy Deaton at 307 Comet Cove.  During Christmas in 1969, the Deaton’s opened their home to a larger group of residents including Mr. and Mrs. Marcus Mauritz, then commuting on weekends from Ganado, Texas.  Since the group had grown larger, it was decided in January 1970 to begin services in a newly-completed addition to the Lakeway Inn.  The Austin Conference of Churches agreed that 10 Protestant ministers would take turns conducting worship at the new location.  

A Catholic group which met in another area of the Lakeway Inn soon moved into this same room.  Protestant services were held at 10:00 a.m. and the Catholic mass was conducted at 11:15 a.m.  This convenient arrangement continued for the next two years. 

Mr. Ralph Keller, another weekend resident of Lakeway, became very active in the church.  The Lakeway Inn furnished a small piano and Mrs. Mauritz played the music while Mr. Keller led the congregation in singing.  A portable altar was acquired and stored in the closet adjoining the service room.  In early 1971, with the joint leadership of Mr. Mauritz and Mr. Keller, talks began with the Catholic Group led by Father Richard McCabe to form an ecumenical church.

In 1972, while the Inn was being enlarged by the new owner, both services were held in the new Lakeway Elementary School building.  At this time, separate services were held, but joint organization meetings resulted in an agreement to construct a church building large enough to hold both congregations.  Title to the building would be held by The Lakeway Church, which was incorporated on May 28, 1970.  All building costs and maintenance costs were to be shared equally by both congregations.

By unanimous vote, both congregations formalized an ecumenical church with four Protestant trustees and four Catholic trustees.  Ralph Keller was elected the first president of the Board of Trustees.  A joint committee contacted the original Lakeway developers who had dedicated a church lot on the corner of Lakeway Drive and Porpoise Drive in their approved development plan.  After several meetings with the developers, the lot where the church now stands was approved.  Because the original developer had designated a church lot, there was no cash consideration.  However, the current developer added many restrictions in the deed.  To the credit of the Lakeway Land Co. management, all restrictions were later removed.

At the organization meeting forming The Lakeway Church, Mr. Harold Hoefgen was appointed chairman of the building committee.  Shortly after, in the home of a Protestant member, a meeting was held to discuss financing the new church building at an estimated cost of $200,000.  Mr. Hoefgen announced that contributions already made by three Protestant members totaled more than half of the estimated cost.  Pledges from the committee members present at the meeting provided the remaining funds needed to construct the church.  There was never a drive among the combined membership, Protestant and Catholic, to raise the required funds to build the first church building.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on December 19, 1973, and the new church building was dedicated on April 6, 1975.  Many of the original furnishings were donated by church members.  Mr. Ralph Keller designed and made all of the present chandeliers in his home workshop on Porpoise Drive.  All the pews were designed and constructed by Mr. Keller’s son in his facility in Temple, Texas.  The organ was donated by Don and Phyllis Oliver.

The members of the local Christian Scientist group, whose charter forbids them to join an ecumenical church, were active participants in all negotiations and generous contributors both to initial operational expenses and later to building costs.  For several years after the building was completed, the Christian Scientists held their regular Sunday service at 8:15 in the new sanctuary.

The original church building was enlarged in 1981 to its present size.   The Educational building was constructed in 1983 and enlarged in 1988.

On June 21, 1995, at the initiative of the Catholic Congregation, the Board of Trustees approved the separation of the two congregations to begin July 1, 1995. The separation process was completed at the end of 2000. The Catholics relocated as the Emmaus parish and built a new church on Lohman's Crossing Road.

Because the average attendance at the Protestant services had increased by 47% since 1995, in the spring of 1998, after lengthy planning, a capital   stewardship campaign was conducted. The For His Glory campaign successfully provided pledges from the congregation to build a new 17,500 square foot Fellowship Center, the first of two phases in the Building Program. The Fellowship Center was the solution to critical space needs for educational classrooms, volunteer meeting rooms, Sunday School rooms, a choir room, a youth room, staff offices, an athletic facility and an enlarged Fellowship Hall. As part of this Phase One plan, additional parking space was added.  The dedication of the new Fellowship Center was conducted on February 27, 2000.

During the For His Glory campaign, Phase 2 of the Building Program was projected to be an expansion of the old sanctuary.   Due to our landlocked   condition, this was the only option for the expansion of the church.  However, through the grace of God, a unique opportunity was made available the following year to purchase 14.9 acres adjoining the back of our property.  The Faith in the Future capital stewardship campaign was initiated and received sufficient pledges to purchase this tract of land for the future growth of our church.  The Faith in the Future campaign concluded at the end of 2003

Our Organization

The Lakeway Church was governed by a Board of Trustees elected by membership from its inception in 1969 until just this year.  In August 2005, the church membership voted to change the system of governance to that of an Elder/Deacon system, which was accomplished on January 15, 2006 when the Lay Elders were ordained and the Deacons commissioned.  Questions about the new form of church governance?  See all issues of The Chrysalis, a mini-newsletter designed to answer your questions.

There are numerous standing committees which carry out the various ministries and administrative functions of the Church. The duties and responsibilities of these committees, the staff, and descriptions of how the Church functions administratively, are contained in the Policy Manual, available in the church office.

We are a congregation of approximately 500 family units from numerous Protestant traditions and we are growing at a rate of 14.9% average per year. Known prior affiliations of some of our members are:  Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Baptist, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), United Church of Christ and Church of Christ.

Church-related activities and programs take place daily at all hours of the day in portions of our buildings. These include Bible study groups, choir rehearsals, adult education, a Christian Preschool, youth activities, an Alcoholics Anonymous group and many more.

The Fellowship Center has become the focal point for many church and family oriented functions, as well as providing an athletic court for youth and adults.

Memorial Garden

A special feature of our Church property is a columbarium where the cremated remains of those who have died are buried.

The Memorial Garden has its own entrance and enclosure and is tree-lined with walks and quiet areas. Bronze plaques, which show the names and dates of birth and death, commemorate those whose ashes are interred there.

Spaces may be purchased in the church office for current or future use.

Memorial donations may be made to the Memorial Garden in memory of, or in honor of, someone special.

A fee is charged for interment and plaques. Arrangements for those eligible can be made through the Church office.  Contact Rachel Sawyer, 261-6331 ext 22.