A contractor, Charles Klein, was hired on a part time basis to help with the restoration, and to lead the many volunteers who accomplished approximately 65% of the work.  A large number of photographs of Church #1 were gathered for study, and older members of the congregation, who could still remember the original church, were consulted.

The church was cleaned and the foundation was completely restored with new posts added by hand.  Insulation was added under the floor of the building.  The siding was removed from the exterior to reveal the original walls which were cleaned, primed and painted.  The tin roof was repaired and sealed, but later had to be replaced due to structural difficulties which continued to cause leaking.  The roof was replaced with identical tin roofing material.  The windows and screens were repaired and rebuilt as needed by Willie McQuien.  Each window varied in size and needed to have its own special shape copied exactly.  The interior ceiling and wall paneling were removed to reveal the original beaded wood walls and ceiling.  The original ceiling had been made from what appeared to be building scraps of many different lengths of beaded wood which had rotted due to the roof leaking for many years.  The ceiling was replaced with matching beaded boards.  The walls were in good condition and were cleaned, primed and painted.  A rest room and small kitchen were built in the sacristy, and a hot water heater was added.  Copies of the original interior and exterior doors were donated.  The church was electrically re-wired, and a central heating system was cleaned and re-installed with a new venting system.  An original hanging light fixture, as well as wall lighting fixtures from the 1935 renovation, were completely restored and re-installed.  Lighting fixtures from Church #2, built in 1950, were refurbished and also installed in Church #1 along with new ceiling fans.  The tile flooring was removed and the original pine floor was sanded and refinished.  New linoleum was laid in the sacristy.  The original pump organ was completely restored both inside and outside.  The baptismal font, made by Pastor A. B. Weiss in 1940, was completely refinished.  A replica of the original high altar built in 1928, as well as the pulpit, were hand made by church member Willie McQuien.  The altar replica includes a hand painted picture, by Joe Villareal, which is a careful reproduction of the original painting on the altar.  Copies of the original slatted wood pews were made by Steve Walker.  The small narthex (entrance), which had been built in 1935, was originally equipped with shelves to hold hymn books.  The shelves, which were poorly constructed and in bad repair, were removed, and wood and glass cases were built by Willie McQuien to display historical church artifacts.  The staircase out of the sacristy, or back door, was completely rebuilt, and a ramp was installed at the main entrance of the church.  Fire and burglar alarm systems were also installed.

The first church service was held in the newly restored building on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1995, and the church was rededicated on September 24, 1995.

The original Zion Lutheran Church of Helotes is once again a busy building holding church services, Sunday School openings and classes, baptisms and weddings.  The founders would be proud of the restoration; and it is a credit to the members and friends of Zion Lutheran Church of Helotes that the building has been saved for its original purpose.