Welcome to Mt. Horeb!
Mt. Horeb Lutheran Church represents many things. We are:

		an ELCA congregation embracing a rich history of experiencing and sharing God’s presence,
		a diverse membership representing young and old, single and family, native from near and far -- and all both saint and sinner,
		a renewing congregation rooted in the soil of God’s grace since 1891 and, yet, reforming daily in response to God’s call to us in our attempt to live by faith in a broken world.

Sometimes when people search for a church family, they are attracted by the energy exhibited in programs, gimmicks and give-a-ways. At Mt. Horeb the energy is God working through people living in community. In the midst of our individual human hurts and hopes, God embraces us in our need and gives to us his light for living. We sense this when in one of our confessional prayers, we pray: “… forgive us, renew us, and lead us so that we may delight in your will and walk in your way to the glory of your Holy name.”

As we gather on Sunday, we have opportunity to be fed by God’s Word and Sacrament so that we can go back into the world strengthened for living out our journey of faith … so that we can participate wholeheartedly in the call of ministry.

We celebrate real faith for a real world. You are invited. Welcome!

Ralph G. Hill
Senior Pastor

	I have questions about worship times, church size and location. We've prepared a church profile on our Visitors Page with answers to these and more questions. Click here to view it.
	What is Mt. Horeb’s mission & vision statement? The mission of the Mt. Horeb congregation shall be to manifest God’s love to all people through the preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It shall be a healing ministry, promoting unity in the congregation and the community-at-large. It shall nurture and sustain its members through loving service, encourage all to use their God-given talents and means, provide channels for growth, reach out to others in love, and offer intentional opportunities for fellowship.
	What is Sunday worship like at Mt. Horeb? For Lutherans, worship matters. In fact, worship lies at the heart of how we understand ourselves together. While some of the approaches to worship may differ from one congregation to another, we hold certain things in common. There is a basic pattern for worship among Lutherans. We gather. We encounter God’s Word. We share a meal at the Lord’s table. And we are sent into the world. But we do not think about worship so much in terms of what we do. Worship is fundamentally about what God is doing and our response to God’s action. Worship is an encounter with God, who saves us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Think about it like this. God’s Spirit calls us together. God speaks to us through readings from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, through preaching, prayer, and song. God feeds and nourishes us in a saving way. And God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world. The cross is the central symbol that marks our worship spaces and when Lutherans worship, singing fills the air. The voices of all the people joined in song and the participation of all the people in the worship is a witness to our conviction that in worship we are being drawn in to God’s own saving story. At Mt. Horeb, we use a variety of liturgical and blended forms for worship, and we are a congregation that enjoys singing old and new traditional hymns, contemorary praise songs and music from our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. Sometimes, seeing is believing. Instead of just reading a description of our worship services and styles, wouldn't it be better to see for yourself? Click the movie link at right to watch a variety of short movie presentations about Mt. Horeb.
	Do you have sermons available online? Yes, each week we post audio sermons to the church news page in the Mt. Horeb Daily. Click here to listen.
	What do Lutherans believe?
	What is the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America?
	What Is the history of the ELCA?
	Other Helpful Lutheran Web Links... Lutheran Magazine WELCA (Women in the ELCA) Lutheran Men in Mission SC Synod Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary Newberry College Lutheran Family Services

Mt. Horeb Lutheran Church was established in 1891 – about the time the Town of Chapin was organized.

The area that is now Lexington County, like the greater portion of the Southeastern United States, was first settled by American Indians. In the 1600s English settlements were established at Charleston. The English established their plantations producing rice to fill the bellies of Englishmen and cotton to supply the looms of England. Some of the early Lutherans coming into Charleston came to America as indentured servants, gaining full status as free after completion of their tenure of service. These costal towns and prosperous plantations were subject to continuing threats of Indian raids (and raids from Spanish and French forces as well) and some means were sought to counter such threats. In South Carolina, immigrants -- largely of German extraction – provided part of the solution.

By 1708 a steady stream of German immigrants began to arrive in America and by the mid-1700s that stream had become a flood. Many of them came from the Rhine River Valley along the border of Switzerland, which embraces the German province of Wertemberg and a number of Swiss cantons. Even the Swiss were German-speaking people. For the most part they were farmers and draftsmen -- sturdy and hardy folk -- by nature industrious and peaceful. The English Crown thought that it could be advantageous to grant lands in the interior of South Carolina to these immigrants whose settlements might provide a buffer to protect the coastal towns and plantations. The practice of making land grants in South Carolina to these German immigrants continued through the reign of George III almost to the time of the American Revolution, and many who are currently members of Mt. Horeb Church (and most of those who were her earliest members) can trace their ancestry to forefathers who received such grants.

The book, Chapin, South Carolina - The First Hundred Years, relates how the town of Chapin grew up around Martin Chapin's Mill and how it grew and prospered with the growth of the lumber industry, the coming of the railroad, and the reign of "King Cotton."

The history of Mt. Horeb Church in many ways parallels that of the town itself. A number of leaders in the town have also been leaders in the church. As the town and the surrounding area has grown, so has the congregation of Mt. Horeb.

Mt. Horeb can look to the Rev. W. L. Darr as the shepherding pastor who gathered together the little flock from which Mt. Horeb's congregation has sprung. The report of the President of the Tennessee Synod to its 1889 convention stated that in the Spring of that year "the pastorate in South Carolina left vacant by the death of Dr. Smeltzer (Bethlehem, St. Thomas, and St. Jacobs) extended a call to Candidate W. L. Darr." Brother Darr accepted the call and entered his labors on this field in June 1889. Although he served all three congregations, soon after his arrival in the area he gathered together a fourth which was to become Mt. Horeb. This little congregation first met in Mr. George Lindler's Funeral Home.

Mt. Horeb’s current, and third, worship facility was dedicated in October 1963. In the summer of 1999, the Mt. Horeb congregation welcomed the completion of an educational facility and an extensive renovation and expansion of its fellowship hall, kitchen and office space.