Bethel Lutheran on Airport Boulevard
Bethel Lutheran Church sits at 1450 Airport Boulevard on the edge of Aurora, Colorado, a few blocks north of where Colfax Avenue rolls toward Buckley. For about 75 years the congregation has gathered at this single address, and the building has grown into something of a shared campus: an ELCA congregation meets here for worship on Sunday morning, a Tongan-language congregation meets here in the afternoon, and on any given week the rooms also host Cub Scouts, Gamblers Anonymous, chair yoga, and quilting bees.
Pastor Barb Lemke has been at Bethel since August of 2000, after earlier calls to Shepherd of the Hills in Fort Collins and nine years alongside her husband at Joy Lutheran in Parker. A graduate of Wartburg Seminary (1984) and holder of a Doctor of Ministry from Phillips Theological Seminary (2003), she preaches most Sundays and writes a regular column called "From the Pen of Pastor Barb." Around her sits a lay leadership team that the church calls the Senior Leadership Team, or SLT - elected yearly, meeting monthly, and acting as the church council.
Sunday Worship, Rooted in Lutheran Tradition
Bethel currently gathers for a single Sunday service at 9:30 a.m. The bulletin tells visitors to use the east door, where greeters meet them and the sanctuary opens to the right, while the fellowship hall and Sunday school rooms are on the left. Ushers hand out a printed bulletin; the service is also projected on a screen at the front of the room, and Bibles and hymnals sit in each pew. The service runs a little over an hour and includes singing, readings from the lectionary used by ELCA congregations worldwide, a children's sermon, a time of confession with words of forgiveness spoken over the congregation, a sermon, weekly communion, the Lord's Prayer or one of the creeds, an offering, and a benediction.
Worship is blended. When Bethel ran two Sunday services before the present single-service pattern, the early service drew on liturgy from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) and the With One Voice (WOV) hymnal for a more traditional feel, while the late service mixed in contemporary songs. Today the 9:30 service brings those streams together. Communion is open and is served every week: all are welcome at the Lord's table, members and visitors alike, including those receiving communion for the first time. Baptism is celebrated across the lifespan, from infants to adults.
Services are livestreamed on Facebook during the hour and added to Bethel's YouTube channel later in the day. Bulletins are posted alongside the recordings so worshipers who join from home can follow the same words being read in the sanctuary.
A House of Music
Music is one of the most visible ministries at Bethel. The adult choir rehearses in the sanctuary at 8 a.m. most Sundays from fall through mid-spring and sings at the 9:30 service, with a Christmas Cantata in December. A children's choir also leads in worship during Advent. The praise team Grace Flows Down, founded in spring 2004 by former Minister of Music Tam Smith and now directed by Kathy Harrison, leads worship on the third Sunday of each month and at special services. Sounds of Joy, an instrumental ensemble started in 2012 under Deloris Delapp, brings together musicians of all ages and skill levels and rehearses on the fourth Sunday of the month. A Handbell Choir directed by Doris Freund has been part of the music program since 2016, growing from a small Advent offering into a full choir. Hymnists round out the team, leading the congregation from the front of the room each week.
The keyboard and organ are in the hands of Liudmila (Mila) Startsev, who came to Bethel from Kurgan, Russia, with several master's degrees in music and 17 years of musical training behind her. The choir director position is currently open; anyone interested can write to choir@bethelaurora.org.
For those who want something more informal, the Well began in September 2018 as a monthly Thursday-night worship with testimonies, video, and conversation. It remains Bethel's most contemporary gathering.
Sharing the Building with a Tongan Congregation
Bethel shares its facilities with a Tongan Congregation that meets for worship at 3 p.m. every Sunday and gathers its youth on Friday evenings at 6 p.m. The Tongan-language congregation uses the sanctuary after Bethel's own service ends, and the partnership is one of the distinctive features of life on Airport Boulevard.
Bible Study Three Ways
Bible study at Bethel meets three times a week, in three formats:
- Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. - a Zoom study that works through books of the Bible and study books. Contact the office at 303-364-2245 or email church@bethelaurora.org for the link.
- Thursday at 1 p.m. - an in-person study that meets on campus.
There is also a Sunday-morning Bible Study at 11 a.m. in the Fireside Room that picks up after worship and runs about an hour. The Bethel teaching team uses the lectionary Gospel text as a starting point for discussion, and the church sees Scripture as the inspired Word of God that, through the Holy Spirit, continues to speak to readers in the present.
Children, Youth, and Sunday School
Sunday School at Bethel has historically met between services with a high school class, a middle school class, and an elementary class for children ages 3 through 18, following a curriculum that teaches Bible stories and life lessons together. The program is currently on hold; families interested in helping relaunch it are encouraged to contact the church office.
Children are not absent from the sanctuary, however. Children's sermons are a regular feature of Sunday worship, with the young people invited up to the altar for a short lesson geared to their age before heading back to their families.
Confirmation begins in seventh grade and continues until a student has the credits needed to affirm the baptismal promises. Confirmations usually take place on Reformation Sunday in the fall, with a spring option for those who finish later. The classes help young people understand what it means to be Lutheran and lay a foundation for a faith that carries into high school and adulthood.
During the summer, Bethel youth head to Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp near Canon City, Colorado, for a week of Confirmation Camp or Senior High Camp. Bethel also takes part in the ELCA national youth gathering, held every three years in different cities across the country.
Vacation Bible School runs for one week each summer for children ages 4 to 10, with songs, stories, crafts, and games, led by older youth and adult volunteers. Details and registration come out each spring.
Women's Ministry: Prayer Shawls, Quilts, and Suppers
The Women of Bethel describe themselves with a proverb: life is better together. The group hosts the Sunday morning Fellowship Hour, prepares Lenten and Advent suppers, serves meals at funerals and celebrations of life, leads a semi-annual meeting, and organizes a biennial women's spiritual retreat. The women also sponsor an ongoing outreach project that assembles health kits and food bags for neighbors in need, and they run two long-standing craft ministries.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry, launched in October 2007 with five women, has grown to twenty to twenty-five knitters and crocheters. They have made and given away more than 300 shawls, afghans, baby blankets for baptisms, scarves, lap robes, and pocket prayer shawls - items that have reached sixteen states and five countries. Finished shawls are laid at the altar for a final blessing by the congregation and Pastor before they go out. The group meets on the third Saturday of each month at 9 a.m., welcomes beginners, and is happy to teach new crafters.
The Quilting Group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. and produces quilts for those in need. No experience is required.
Men's Ministry
The men's fellowship at Bethel is organized around discipleship. The group describes itself as a place "where men who are called to walk with Christ, live in love like Christ and are sent to work for Christ" can grow together, support one another through hard seasons, and share their faith with the wider congregation. Events and service projects are scheduled through the year; the church posts updates on its calendar.
Outreach in Aurora and Beyond
Outreach at Bethel is built around the words of Matthew 25: "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat... I was a stranger and you invited me in." The Missions Team partners with two local organizations - Aurora Interfaith Community Services and Aurora Warms the Night - collecting food, hygiene products, and clothing for neighbors experiencing food and housing insecurity. Members of the congregation have also rung bells for the Salvation Army during the holidays, led worship with women in prison, and served meals to people experiencing homelessness.
Globally, Bethel supports Lutheran World Relief and gives a portion of its offerings to the Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA. The congregation's financial partners also include the wider church through the synod's shared mission.
An ESL ministry offers English-language learning as part of the church's outreach to the diverse Aurora community.
Fellowship Around the Table
Fellowship at Bethel looks like coffee and snacks after worship on Sunday mornings, a Wednesday-night soup-and-salad supper during Advent and Lent, and a calendar of seasonal events: game nights, movie nights, a fall gleaning trip to a local farm, a harvest festival, a craft fair, and the occasional ho-down. The annual rummage sale is a September fixture that fills the building with tables of donated goods.
For older members, a Monthly Senior Luncheon gathers on the third Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at Mama Alvino's restaurant at Colfax and Chambers. Reservations are taken through the church office.
For one-off service opportunities, Bethel runs the S.W.A.T. program - "Servant Willing Although Temporary." The idea is simple: pick an event that interests you, show up, help set up, run, or clean up, and walk away with no long-term commitment required.
Prayer and Pastoral Care
Pastoral care runs through several channels at Bethel. The Prayer Team meets Thursdays at 10 a.m. for a time of intercession. Visitors and members can submit prayer requests through the church, and the prayer page is updated regularly. A regular column, "From the Pen of Pastor Barb," appears on the site monthly.
Two weekly Prayer & Chair Yoga sessions - Mondays at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. - blend gentle movement with prayer and are open to anyone who wants to attend, including those who don't usually make it to Sunday worship.
What Bethel Believes
Bethel teaches that God's message of love, grace, and hope has been made known through Jesus Christ, and that from beginning to end the Bible points to Jesus' death on the cross as the bridge of healing between God and humanity. The church's vision statement says its members are called to spread the good news of Jesus Christ by showing God's love, compassion, and mercy through every action, both inside and outside the building.
Bethel belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), a denomination of about 3.4 million members in more than 9,000 congregations. Within the ELCA, Bethel is part of the Rocky Mountain Synod, which gathers ELCA congregations across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, and parts of Texas. The name "Lutheran" itself comes from Martin Luther, whose writings in the 16th-century Reformation shaped Lutherans' distinctive understanding of grace.
Specifically, Bethel teaches that grace is at the center of the Christian life: once a person believes in Jesus, nothing they do can separate them from God's love. Forgiveness is received by accepting what Jesus has already done on the cross; during worship a time of quiet confession is followed by the spoken words of forgiveness. The church teaches that salvation is a free gift offered to all, that Jesus is fully God and fully human, that the Holy Spirit accompanies believers through their faith journey, and that the Bible is the inspired, living Word of God. Baptism is by water and Word and is open to all ages. Communion is celebrated weekly and is open to everyone.
Plan a Visit
Bethel sits in a residential stretch of Airport Boulevard, north of Colfax. Parking is open - there are no assigned spaces, and visitors can pull in anywhere. The east door is the entrance for worship. Once inside, a greeter will offer a bulletin and an usher can help find a seat. There is no dress code; jeans and shorts are welcome alongside more formal attire. Arriving ten or fifteen minutes early makes it easier to park, find a seat, and meet a few neighbors before the service begins.
For those who can't make it on Sunday, the church's sermon archive carries written texts and video of recent messages, with bulletins available as PDFs. Giving is offered online, by text to 844-216-8802, through the Give+ app, or by mail to the church office.
Anyone with questions is welcome to call 303-364-2245 or email church@bethelaurora.org.