Amazing Grace Lutheran Church
Amazing Grace proclaims the good news that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. We have served the community of Myrtle Beach since 2001.
Our Pastor
Pastor Zahn has been a full time pastor at Amazing Grace since July 2006. He has Southern ties having grown up in Atlanta and also Orlando.
Pastor Zahn graduated from Luther Preparatory School, Watertown, WI, in 1998. In 2002 he graduated from Martin Luther College, New Ulm, MN, with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in May of 2006. Previous ministry experience included one year of pastoral internship at Tree of Life Lutheran Church, Cary, NC.
Pastor Zahn is married to Rachel. She is a graduate of Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN. They were blessed with their first child, Noelle Marie, in August 2007. In December 2009 they were blessed with a son, Caleb Benjamin. In April 2013 they were blessed with their third child, Eliana Mae. In February 2019, they were blessed with their fourth child, Mariah Grace.
Pastor Zahn is eager to meet you. If there is any way he can help or serve your needs, please contact him at 843-236-9134. Or email him at zahn.email@gmail.com.
Our Vicar
My name is Nathan Boulden. I was born and raised in Watertown, Wisconsin and was a graduate of Luther Prep. I am the youngest of three children and my oldest sister is also a called worker who teaches in Duluth, Minnesota. My wife Maddy, formerly Leckwee, was born in Rapid City, South Dakota but grew up moving to her Dad’s many teaching calls. We met in 2018 while attending Martin Luther College and were married after I graduated in 2021. We celebrated our third wedding anniversary this past July. We began married life back in New Ulm, Minnesota so Maddy could finish a semester of student teaching. In December 2021 she took an emergency, six-month teaching position in Fort Myers, Florida. We returned to Jackson, Wisconsin in summer of 2022 so I could begin classes at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and Maddy could teach middle school music and language arts. We welcomed our daughter, Violet, into our family in June of last year. Maddy and I are both passionate about music and have been very involved playing guitar and singing for worship wherever we have served. We love sports, board games, travel, and most of all being together with friend and family. We are looking forward to finding both here in Myrtle Beach.
History
The South Atlantic District Mission Board began calling for a mission explorer in 1997 for the Carolina Forest area of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Pastor James Schumann of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, accepted the call in January of 2000, and in June of that year he and his family moved to a rented condominium while the new parsonage was being constructed in Carolina Forest.
The first worship service s were held in the rented condominium on River Oaks Drive. As the group grew larger, serviced were moved to Hunter’s Ridge Child Care on Forestbrook Road. After a year of canvassing and outreach, the official “Kick-Off Service” was on September 9, 2001, in the Wall Auditorium at Coastal Carolina University. The Lord blessed his Word in the Wall Building for the next three years as the mission grew to over 60 souls and for three successive Easter services the worship attendance was over 100. In August of 2004 the church wanted a more permanent place for ministry and moved to a rented storefront at 1701 Hwy 544. Amazing Grace Lutheran Church received official “mission status” from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in April of 2005, and in June of 2006 the group moved to another rented storefront ministry center at 4761 Hwy 501, closer to the target mission field of Carolina Forest.
In May of 2006 Pastor Schumann accepted a call to serve Crown of Glory Lutheran Church, in Orlando, Florida. The second resident pastor for Amazing Grace Lutheran Church was seminary graduate Benjamin Zahn, who arrived in Myrtle Beach with his wife Rachel in July 2006.
Under God’s blessing, Amazing Grace dedicated its first church building (worship, education, and fellowship space) on March 27, 2011. A permanent home for the ministry of Amazing Grace is a blessing from our gracious God that enhanced and expanded our opportunities to reach the unchurched in our community and bring them into a family of believers. God has granted growth over the past several years and allowed Amazing Grace to expand its ministry with the start of Amazing Grace Lutheran Preschool in the Fall of 2016.