The History of Lake Tomahawk Bible Church

Formation and Early Years

 LTBC began in the late 1950s with Pastor Derold Hickox and services were held in what is today the American Legion Building. W.W. Burlingame deeded ¾ of an acre of land to LTBC on November 5th, 1958 with the stipulation that the basement would be finished within the first year. The basement was built, and services were held there while the work on the building continued and was completed in the mid-’60s.

In the 1970’s Crescent Lake Bible Camp worked with LTBC to spread the Gospel in camp ministry.

Pastor Derold Hickox with his wife Gayle served from the late 1950s through the early 1980s. With other men such as Ted Johnson, Myron Macone and our beloved Bill Hansen who worshipped with us until his passing in 2020.

From the early ’80s until 1999 various men held a position as Pastor at LTBC.

Into the new millennium

In 1999 Pastor Gregg Guthrie and his wife Kay came to serve the church where very few attended. With the help of those still in the church, much work was done on the Constitution and Bylaws. As Gregg preached Jesus, the church began to see new growth.

In 2007 Pastor Marcus Guthrie (Gregg’s son) and his wife Chelle began serving LTBC. The church, through the Holy Spirit and Marcus’s teaching, began to grow to the point that the need was evident for a new church building to better continue the work of the Lord here at LTBC. Pastor Marcus served faithfully until 2019.

In 2019, Pastor Peter Kolb, with Interim Pastor Ministries, began serving at LTBC while the church sought a new pastor and served faithfully during the Covid-19 worldwide pandemic through the end of 2020.

In December 2021, we decided to sell our church building in order to raise funds to complete the construction of our new building. Our last service at the North Avenue building was on January 9, 2022. Several of our former pastors came and spoke at this service as we bid a fond farewell to a beloved building.

On January 16, 2022, we held our first service in the Raymond F. Sloan Community Center located in Lake Tomahawk, WI.

After four years of construction, we held our first Sunday service in our new church building on November 5, 2023. Work will continue on portions of the building, but we are excited to finally be moved in.

Looking to the future

To reach the lost for Christ is our continuing mission. As part of this we are focused on discipling and training up Christians to better shine the light of God in our communities.