In May, 1952 Holy Cross Lutheran Church held its first service of Consecration in the house

 located at Cliveden and Magnolia Street. The seed had been sown in 1948 when Pastor William A. Drews, the Executive Secretary of the Eastern District, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod extended a call to Pastor Othneil Thomas. The call was a request for Pastor Thomas to serve as Missionary at large in the Philadelphia area specifically North Philly. In 1951, it was decided to establish a congregation in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. In the fall of that year a small group of dedicated Christians met at the home of Mr and Mrs. Allen B. Rawlins to make plans for a church. In December of 1951, a property was purchased by the Eastern District of the Lutheran Church at the Cliveden and Magnolia Street site. The first confirmation class was held in September 1952 and a constitution was adopted in 1954. The congregation was organized and joined in fellowship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.