Saratoga News

Pastor James Friedrich will lead the church into its 41st year.

New pastor is installed at Prince of Peace Lutheran

Pastor James Friedrich was installed as the fifth pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Saratoga on Sept. 8.

Friedrich is a resident of San Jose and was the area director for Lutheran Social Services for 16 years. He has been active in the Santa Clara Valley Lutheran Parish, made up of 23 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Santa Clara County.

The pastor is a graduate of Concordia College and Concordia Seminary and received his master's degree from the University of Denver. He previously served as director of community ministry in Denver, campus pastor at the University of Denver and interim pastor of two local Lutheran congregations. He replaces Pastor Eugene W. Jewell, who took a leave due to a long-term medical disability.

Prince of Peace held its first worship services in the Foothill Club in January 1956, and when the congregation outgrew that space by 1958, the church moved to the old Whitlow Clothing Store on Big Basin Way. The congregation also held services in the former Saratoga Theater and the IOOF Hall on Oak Street prior to moving into a building at the corner of Saratoga and Cox avenues in 1960.

Although Prince of Peace went on to erect the Fellowship Hall where the congregation held services beginning in 1966, the sanctuary, with its colorful faceted glass windows, was not completed until 1988.

Prince of Peace is observing its 40th anniversary this year with a weekend of special events and worship services Nov. 16 and 17. Former pastors of the congregation have been invited to return for the celebration.