History of Rivercliff Lutheran Church
Dunwoody, Georgia

    In 1967, Rev. Erdmann A. Frank was called to serve as a mission developer to the people of Dunwoody, Roswell, and Sandy Springs, GA.  His task was to develop a new congregation to meet the needs of  Lutheran residents in these areas.   Pastor Frank led the first worship service of the Dunwoody-Roswell Mission, now Rivercliff Lutheran Church, on January 7, 1968 in the Fulton Federal Bank building in Roswell.  The construction of our present chapel and fellowship hall on Roswell Road began soon after and the building was dedicated in 1970.

    In 1973 Pastor Frank accepted a call to become mission director of the Florida - George District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  Pastor Robert H. Strickert then became the new pastor of our congregation and served as its senior pastor until January, 1999 when he retired after 25 years of ministry to the congregation.

    Due to the rapid growth of our congregation, a new education wing was added in 1978, and the chapel and fellowship hall were enlarged and remodeled in 1984.   In 1989  Rev. David Brockhoff was called to become our associate pastor.   He served in that capacity until  January 1998.

    In August of 1993, we dedicated our Open Arms Child Development Center, which provides day care and Christian education for infants and children up to five year of age.   

    Following Pastor Brockhoff's departure and Pastor Strickert's retirement,  the Rev. Larry Tieman was called to become our new pastor in August 1999.   Today, Rivercliff  Lutheran Church serves over 600 baptized members from all over the metropolitan Atlanta area in Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties.

    In 2002, Rivercliff Lutheran Church embarked on a capital funding campaign called "Share the Living Water".  The campaign will focus on building additional facilities to continue to grow Christ's ministry and expand our current facilities.

    In July of 2003, Rev. JR Jones was ordained and installed as our new Assistant Pastor.   The congregation also voted to purchase a 28 acre tract of property on Woodstock Road in Roswell, GA where a new sanctuary and other facilities will be constructed to meet the expanding needs of a growing congregation.