Christ Church Lutheran, ELCA: A Sunset District Congregation Since 1912
Christ Church Lutheran has stood in the heart of San Francisco's Sunset District since 1912, with a congregation that traces its worship and witness in the neighborhood across more than a century. Today the church gathers as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America within the Sierra Pacific Synod, known locally for its long-standing Reconciling in Christ welcome, its hybrid Sunday worship, and a building that opens every day of the week to musicians, neighbors, and community groups.
Set on Quintara Street between 19th and 20th Avenues, three blocks north of the L Taraval line, Christ Church sits among the single-family homes and small businesses that give the Sunset its village feel. The congregation describes itself as "walking in the way of Christ," connecting and caring for each other, the Sunset community, and the wider world through worship, learning, and hands-on service.
Worship on Sunday Mornings at Ten
Sunday worship is the center of life at Christ Church Lutheran. The single weekly service begins at 10:00 a.m. and is offered both in person and via Zoom, so members across the Bay Area and travelers away from home can pray with the congregation at the same hour. Every Sunday includes Holy Communion, with bread and wine shared at the altar rail for those who wish to receive.
The service uses a Lutheran liturgy grounded in Scripture and the western Christian tradition. The congregation understands its worship as catholic (in continuity with the apostolic church through Word and Sacrament), evangelical (proclaiming that God is gracious), and reforming (open to new forms that make the Gospel clearer). The order follows an apostolic shape: Scripture reading and preaching, prayers of intercession, sharing of the peace, offering, the Thanksgiving prayer, the Lord's Prayer, and the shared meal.
Music is woven through the service. The choir rehearses each Sunday at 9:15 a.m. and welcomes new singers of any experience. Children of all ages are part of worship, with a Children's Sermon and a related activity for younger worshipers during the school year. After the service the parish hall fills with coffee, snacks, and conversation during a long-standing coffee hour.
The Bosch Organ from Lone Mountain
Music at Christ Church is anchored by a 34-rank Bosch organ with two manuals, a detached console, and 1,597 pipes. The instrument was built in 1967 by the Werner-Bosch Organ Manufacturing Company of Kassel, Germany, for the Frawley Memorial Chapel at the Lone Mountain College of Women in San Francisco. When the college closed in 1978 and the University of San Francisco later repurposed the chapel, the organ found a new home at Christ Church Lutheran in 1995. Organ builder John West, who had originally installed the instrument at Lone Mountain, led the relocation and redesign with assistant James Mueller, converting the upper-rear section of pipes into a Ruckpositiv and adding fiberglass tracker action so the pipes respond without electronic delay. The result is an organ that anchors congregational singing, supports choral repertoire, and lends the sanctuary a sound that longtime members describe as one of the treasures of the congregation.
Rev. Thomas McQueen, the congregation's Associate Pastor and Minister of Music, has shaped that sound since 1996. An ELCA pastor ordained in 1975, McQueen holds a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary/Seminex and a master's degree in Sacred Music from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He previously served St. Paulus Lutheran Church in San Francisco and several New York congregations, and he continues to teach music part-time at St. Brendan and St. Veronica Catholic Schools. He combines organ, piano, and gifts from instrumentalists and singers across the congregation and the wider community.
Walking the Way of Christ: The Mission
The mission that the congregation adopted in December 2023 reads: "Walking in the way of Christ, we connect and care for each other, our communities, and the world." The congregation lives this out through four movements: Welcome, Worship, Engage, and Share.
To welcome, the congregation opens itself to all and learns from the local community about how to be a good neighbor. To worship, it centers the transformative story of Jesus Christ and offers traditional Lutheran liturgy alongside new forms. To engage, it partners with groups that share its mission, builds fellowship, and works with local leaders on social justice and environmental issues in the Sunset and the wider city. To share, it opens its building to the community for music, neighborhood meetings, and special events, and shares its time, talents, and resources with the neighborhood and the world.
A Reconciling in Christ Congregation Since 1985
Christ Church Lutheran has been a Reconciling in Christ congregation since 1985, marking forty years of public welcome to LGBTQIA+ members, leaders, and neighbors. The Welcome Statement, adopted at the Annual Meeting in January 2025, names that welcome in plain language: "We welcome you, however you got here and whatever your path. We welcome you if you are poor or wealthy. We welcome you of any age or emotional maturity. We welcome you of any race, ethnic background, or national origin. We welcome you of any sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. We welcome you in any state of physical and mental health. We welcome you in any level of physical or mental ability. We welcome you of any political ideology. We welcome you whoever you are. We welcome you."
The congregation pledges this welcome not only in worship but in leadership. Christ Church has called several LGBTQIA+ pastors and is open to calling LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC leaders. The sanctuary and the senior pastor are made available for weddings and blessings for LGBTQIA+ couples, and the church sets aside part of its annual giving to support ReconcilingWorks and Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.
God's World and Saturday Fun and Games
Children are woven into the life of the congregation through two school-year programs. God's World Sunday Playtime meets on the second Sunday of each month, September through May. Children in kindergarten through sixth grade join the start of worship and then move to Sunday School, while preschool-age children and their caregivers share a meal and Bible-focused crafts, music, and play. Each session centers on a focus Bible story and adds music, free play, and activities designed to help children grow in faith and friendship.
Saturday Fun and Games was a monthly activity-based program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. From September 2023 through May 2026, the program drew over 40 children and nearly 30 volunteers, with sessions built around crafts, science, games, building, and a kid-friendly lunch. The program is paused as of September 2026 while the congregation plans its next chapter and searches for a new program coordinator. A summer day camp for the same age group has rounded out recent summers, with a week-long program hosted at the church.
Older children are not left out. A confirmation program serves middle-school youth, and a youth group for those confirmed and for high schoolers meets regularly, with a recent weekend retreat at Mt. Cross Lutheran Camp.
Bible Study and Midweek Prayer
Wednesday evenings belong to Bible Study. The hour begins at 6:00 p.m. and meets both in person and on Zoom, making it accessible to members across the Bay Area. Recent studies have walked through the Gospel of Matthew and have paired Sunday readings with works of art to open up new angles on familiar texts. The hour often flows into social time afterward.
During the seasons of Advent and Lent, the congregation layers on additional prayer. Midweek morning prayer services are offered online on Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., drawing on Holden Evening Prayer and other liturgies to mark the church year. The Advent Morning Prayer and Lenten Morning Prayer services are posted on the congregation's YouTube channel and remain available on demand. A printed Lenten devotional booklet, written for the congregation, pairs daily Bible readings with a poem, a new hymn set to a familiar tune, a commentary, and two pieces of art.
Seven Weeks of Advent and the Church Year
Christ Church celebrates a seven-week Advent rather than the more familiar four weeks. The longer season gives the congregation a more relaxed time of waiting and allows Advent to stand apart from the secular rush of the December calendar. The worship space holds a seven-candle Advent wreath named for the ancient titles of Jesus from the sixth-century Latin O antiphons: Wisdom, Ruler, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Morning Star, King of Nations, and God With Us.
The Advent season features intergenerational worship on the second Sunday, a Come As You Are Christmas Pageant on the third Sunday, a Lessons and Carols service on the fourth Sunday, and Christmas Eve worship. Lent follows the traditional shape with Ash Wednesday services, Sunday worship centered on the Revised Common Lectionary, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter, culminating in the bright celebration of Easter Sunday.
The Building and the Neighborhood
The present church building was built in the 1960s around a sanctuary and parish hall connected by a central courtyard. The sanctuary seats 175 for worship and weddings, and the parish hall seats about 150 for dinners, concerts, and community meetings. Three classrooms and workspaces occupy the lower level, and an outdoor meditation garden offers a quieter space for prayer. Limited parking is available in the underground garage, with neighborhood parking on surrounding streets, and the sanctuary and parish hall are wheelchair accessible.
The building is shared widely. In a typical week it hosts around 100 individuals in 12-step groups, 25 members of neighborhood organizations, and 30 musicians for rehearsals and lessons. Recitals, concerts, private events, and community gatherings of 50 to 200 people pass through the parish hall and sanctuary on a regular basis. Long-term tenants include nonprofits and civic groups, and the South Sunset Ballroom Dance Team has called Christ Church home for community socials.
Weddings at Christ Church are set within a service of worship that includes thanksgiving, Scripture, prayer, and blessing. The congregation requires three sessions of premarital counseling with the pastor and reserves the right to refuse dates on Sundays, during the eight days before Easter, at Christmas, or when the congregation has scheduled a major event. Reservations can be made up to one year in advance. All music must be arranged through the Minister of Music, and clergy of other denominations may participate by mutual agreement.
Service in the Sunset and Beyond
Christ Church's partnerships with neighborhood and citywide organizations are a defining part of its identity. The congregation has long ties to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, having hosted the Sunrise Food Pantry for many years and earning recognition through the Million Pounds Club. The pantry closed during the pandemic and the congregation is working with the Food Bank to restart it. Members volunteer individually and as a group with the Food Bank on an ongoing basis.
Every fifth Thursday, members gather in the church kitchen to prepare 100 lunches for the San Francisco Night Ministry's Open Cathedral worship in the Mission, then deliver them to be served after the evening service. Senior Pastor Janet Katari has also served as a Night Minister. Each fourth Sunday, neighbors are invited to gather at McCoppin Park, a few blocks from the church, for a monthly trash cleanup, snacks, and conversation.
The congregation has ongoing connections with the San Francisco Interfaith Council, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, Faith in Action East Bay, and the Lutheran Office of Public Policy. Members have accompanied immigrants waiting in line for ICE appointments, providing information, food, coffee, and chalk for the children. They have joined interfaith vigils remembering those lost in immigration enforcement and advocating for better conditions in detention. Each year, the congregation sets aside a portion of its giving for Lutheran Social Services of Northern California, ReconcilingWorks, the San Francisco Interfaith Council, San Francisco Night Ministry, the Center for Climate Change, and the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank.
A new Christ Church Lutheran Endowment, established in 2026, distributes grants of $500 to $3,000 to projects that expand the congregation's ministry and engagement with the wider community. Applications are accepted from both within and outside the congregation, with a focus on projects that build new relationships with mission-aligned organizations.
The People Who Lead
Rev. Janet Katari became Senior Pastor in August 2022, after the congregation called her in a July vote. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, she lives in Berkeley with her partner Carrie and their combined family of four adult children and a teenager. Her call to ministry grew from a curiosity about God's role in the world, a desire to help others find God in community, and a longing for justice. She serves on the Witness Team of the Sierra Pacific Synod and as treasurer for Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, and she partners with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and Faith in Action East Bay in social justice work. In her spare time she enjoys learning guitar, reading widely, playing board games, and taking her dogs on adventures.
Rev. Thomas McQueen has served as Associate Pastor and Minister of Music since 1996. The Congregation Council includes President Connie John, Vice-president Elizabeth Thompson, Secretary John Blair, Treasurer Stephanie Kushner, Financial Secretary David Heckadon, and at-large members Aleta Oryall, Rev. Janet Katari, and Rev. Thomas McQueen.
Planning a First Visit
Sunday worship begins at 10:00 a.m. and is offered both in person and via Zoom at bit.ly/CCLWorship. The building is wheelchair accessible, with limited underground parking and additional neighborhood parking on Quintara and the surrounding blocks. Children are welcome in worship; the second Sunday of each month is intergenerational and includes God’s World Sunday School for kindergarten through sixth grade.
Visitors looking to support the congregation's ministry can give online through the church's giving page. Those interested in a deeper connection - joining a Bible study, volunteering with the food bank or Sunday morning programs, or reserving the building for a meeting, recital, or wedding - can reach the church office at office@christchurchlutheran.org or 415-664-0915.