A Place and People of Hope, Healing, and Welcome
Divinity Lutheran Church sits on the corner of Blossom Avenue and Homewood Avenue in Parma Heights, Ohio, across from Parma Park Elementary School. Established in 1948 and now home to a faith community of over 1,300 members of all ages, the congregation calls itself "a place and people, where you can nurture your relationship with God and your siblings in Christ." Part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, Divinity embodies a wide spectrum of community service, fellowship, and ministry that stretches from the corner of Blossom and Homewood to the near west side of Cleveland.
Three weekly services fill its sanctuary and chapel, a music ministry rich with choirs and a praise band fills its halls, and a constellation of small groups, care ministries, and outreach partnerships turn the building into a center for the surrounding neighborhood and beyond.
From a Pearl Road Home to a Tower Pointing Heavenward
The story of Divinity Lutheran begins in the post-war village of Parma Heights, when neighboring pastors recognized a need for a mission church and a large Georgian home at 6607 Pearl Road was purchased on April 26, 1948, under the auspices of the American Lutheran Church. The first service was held September 19, 1948. The house served double duty: downstairs for worship, upstairs as the parsonage. The congregation was officially organized February 27, 1949, and charter membership closed with 73 confirmed members on April 28, 1949.
As Parma Heights grew, so did Divinity. The congregation moved to Parma Park School on June 7, 1953, became self-supporting in January 1955, and broke ground for its first church unit that July. An additional education wing followed, and on September 19, 1965, the congregation's 17th anniversary, a special dedication plaque was consecrated. Three months later, on November 28, 1965, the present sanctuary was dedicated. Its tower rises 120 feet, with three arms symbolizing the Persons of the Trinity flowing into it and pointing heavenward.
Inside the sanctuary, sculptor Harry Wheeler's reredos above the altar emphasizes the unity and mystery of the Trinity. At the top, the wings of a dove symbolize the Holy Spirit pouring out gifts upon the gathered congregation, the dove resting on the head of Christ. Though faceless, streams of light mark Him as the Light of the world, his head attached to a shape suggesting an infant cradled in an arm. A scarred and striped hand at the bottom of the reredos symbolizes the Father as provider, who gave the Son for crucifixion and salvation. A semi-circular design for the nave expresses the conviction that worship is open communication between God and His people, and that people are not spectators but participants.
The stained glass windows continue the teaching. Six panels at the center aisle depict the Church: the ship as an ancient symbol of safety and salvation, the Church on the Rock recalling Peter's confession, the Eternal City, the sheep in the care of the Shepherd, Christ in whom the branches live, and God's people who are the light of the world. A second bay carries symbols of the Means of Grace: the shell of Baptism, the chalice and wafers of Holy Communion, the Cross on the World, the Word as a two-edged sword, an open Bible, and the Law. Six windows for Christian Disciplines depict the Altar of worship, the Chi Rho and Lamp of study, the Praying Hands of prayer, the Yoke of obedience, the Descending Dove and rays of confirmation, and the Koinonia of fellowship. Christian Charity windows remind the worshipper of Matthew 25: water for the thirsty, bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, presence for the imprisoned, visits for the ill, and welcome for the stranger. Christian Vocation windows send the worshipper back out: to be a Christian in the home, as a scientist or technologist, a student, a citizen, a merchant, or a worker.
A pipe organ has filled the sanctuary since shortly after its construction. The first instrument was a three-manual, 23-rank organ built by the Hillgreen-Lane Organ Company in 1966. As components aged and wind chests began to fail in the late 1990s, an organ search committee recommended replacement. The congregation voted to create an organ fund, and in 2003 the search began. The TS Good Organ Company was awarded the contract to install a three-manual Rodgers hybrid instrument. Pipes from the original Hillgreen-Lane organ were refurbished and revoiced, and facade pipes were made and installed by the Fratelli Ruffati Organ company of Italy. The completed instrument, combining digital voices and pipework, totals 132 ranks. The new organ was dedicated on February 6, 2006, with dedicatory artist Scott Hanoian. The organ itself became the catalyst for the formation of Divinity's Arts in Action ministry.
Three Services, One Sanctuary, Two Traditions
Divinity Lutheran offers three weekend services, each with its own feel.
On Saturday at 5:30 p.m., a traditional service with liturgy from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship gathers in the chapel behind the sanctuary. The order follows the same shape as Sunday morning, but the service is laid-back and casual, with some parts omitted and only two of the three hymns sung, accompanied by piano. Holy Communion is celebrated every Saturday. Most members dress casual for this service.
On Sunday at 9:00 a.m., a traditional service fills the sanctuary with liturgy and music played on the pipe organ. Special music is offered by the Adult Vocal Choir, the Youth Choir, and the Bell Choir. After the 9:00 a.m. service, coffee and bakery are typically served in the narthex just outside the sanctuary. Holy Communion is celebrated on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month.
At 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, the service becomes liturgical contemporary, led each week by Chosen, Divinity's volunteer praise band, which includes vocals, keyboard, guitars, and drums. Christian contemporary songs and updated hymn favorites accompany the liturgy. There is no printed bulletin; the entire service, including music, is projected on a screen. Holy Communion is celebrated on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month.
Children are welcome and encouraged to participate in worship. On the second and fourth Sundays of each month, a special message for children is offered during worship at the 11:00 service.
The main sanctuary entrance is Door C2, just inside the main entrance on Sunday mornings. Visitors stopping by the Welcome Center at Door C2 will be greeted by a member of the congregation who can answer questions or point them to someone who can. Door C1, located under the arch nearest Homewood Avenue, leads to the chapel for Saturday night worship. The parking lot entrance is on Homewood, with a one-way exit on Blossom.
Divinity practices Open Communion. Any baptized believer may come forward; one does not need to be specifically Lutheran. As for dress, members wear whatever makes them comfortable. Most dress casual for the Saturday service, and on Sundays some members dress up a little more, but this is not required. Services are livestreamed online, and a large archive of recorded sermons is available with audio, video, and PDF downloads.
Music That Fills the Building
Music is woven into the life of Divinity Lutheran. The Music Ministry features vocal and instrumental groups for all ages and a variety of musical styles, and members are invited to use their talents to lift praises to God.
The Adult Choir, the Divinity Singers, is an integral part of worship, offering anthems in a variety of styles and lifting praises at the 9:00 a.m. service, with additional performances at Christmas and Easter services. This is a non-audition choir; all are welcome and invited to join. Rehearsals are on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary.
The Divinity Ringers play five octaves of Schulmerich handbells, a group of people with a range of musical experience who enjoy working together. The Bell Choir offers meditation and prayer during worship, sometimes combining with the Adult Vocal Choir for larger festive repertoire. Rehearsals are on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. in the sanctuary.
Chosen is the Praise Team ensemble of instrumental musicians and vocalists who lead the music at the 11:00 a.m. liturgical contemporary service. Rehearsals are on Tuesdays starting at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday School, Confirmation, and a Summer VBS
At Divinity, hearing the word of God is considered vitally important for children and teens. Sunday School allows the entire family to experience spiritual growth, with a devoted staff of teachers leading classes for infants through high school from September through May during the 10:00 hour. There is no cost for Sunday School, and the materials are part of the church's ministry.
Every Sunday during the 10:00 Sunday School hour (Fall through Spring), an Adult Forum meets in the Choir Room to discuss the scriptures and the sermon for that day, helping individuals get a better grasp of the weekly sermon and figure out application in their everyday lives.
Adult Bible Study meets in the Choir Room on Mondays at 6:00 p.m. and Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. From September through June, the group studies various books of the Bible and has also explored books such as The Purpose Driven Life and Jesus Creed. The time is filled with lively discussion, learning, and fellowship.
Confirmation classes are part of the rhythm at Divinity, walking alongside young people as they make their own public affirmation of their baptismal vows around ages 12 or 13.
Each summer, Vacation Bible School fills the mornings with games, crafts, and stories. Children ages 4 through grade 6 are welcome, and the program has explored themes built around trusting God for daily needs and helping and caring for others.
Baptism at Divinity is celebrated within the context of the gathered community of faith as adoption into the Body of Christ. Before baptism occurs, parents and sponsors meet with the pastor for baptismal preparation. On the day of the baptism, a personalized butterfly is given to be placed on the church banner commemorating the special day; the butterfly will be sent to the child when he or she turns 3, as a first step toward Sunday School. The family also receives a wooden, hand-crafted baptismal box to store the baptismal shell, cloth, candle, blanket, and certificate. Divinity celebrates adult baptism after the adult has met with the pastor and made the decision to be baptized.
Prayer Shawls, Wooden Baptismal Boxes, and Yarn
Handmade Ministries channels the time and talents of members into prayer shawls, baptismal boxes, and wooden creations.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry has distributed over 600 shawls, gifts of love from the church family supported by donations only. Each shawl is prayed over as it is created, with knitters and crocheters praying that God will meet the recipient's needs. The softness is meant to remind the recipient of God's love during medical procedures, after a loss, in times of stress, during bereavement, prayer, meditation, illness, and recovery. The shawls come with handmade cards suitable for framing.
Ladies of the Yarn meets monthly from January through November, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month, in the Choir Room. The group has patterns, yarn, and members willing to offer help and instructions for knitting and crochet. Once a year in November, members sort and distribute handmade hats, scarves, mittens, sweaters, and other knitted and crocheted items to the Redeemer Crisis Center, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries, Parma Park School, and a battered women's shelter. Since record-keeping began in 2006, the group has donated nearly 4,000 items to these agencies. Members also make baptismal blankets, with two long-time makers responsible for ten blankets for the congregation's newest little ones.
Stephen Ministry, the Grace Prayer Team, and the Warmline
Care for one another is the work of several ministries at Divinity.
Stephen Ministry has been at Divinity since 2004, part of a nationwide network of more than 10,000 congregations from over 150 Christian denominations. Stephen Ministers are lay caregivers who provide one-to-one Christian care to hurting people. Training is 50 hours divided into weekly sessions and includes an overnight retreat, covering listening, feelings, assertiveness, confidentiality, and ministering to people in specific situations such as divorce, terminal illness, grief, and childbirth. Stephen Ministers are linked with care receivers by the pastor or coordinator, normally meeting with one care receiver for about an hour each week and gathering monthly for peer supervision and continuing education. Stephen Ministers initially commit to two years of service.
The Grace Prayer Team meets in the Parlor half an hour before the first Sunday service. Members collectively pray by the center doors, then move independently down the aisles reading scripture at each pew. One person prays over the choir loft, the lectern, the pulpit, and the altar. As each person finishes, they kneel at the communion rail for silent prayer. Then the group moves into the Chapel to pray for the pastor, who kneels while the team lays hands on him and prays for him and the church, ending with the Lord's Prayer. Teams are usually asked to serve one Sunday a month.
The Warmline is a phone line at (440) 885-4244 for parish members and friends of Divinity who need to talk, to be listened to, to know someone cares.
Youth, Women of the Church, and the Voyagers
The Divinity Youth Group welcomes students in grades 9 through 12. The group meets weekly on Sundays during the Sunday School hour, 10:00 to 10:50 a.m., and plans monthly activities including service projects at the Cleveland Food Bank and the Boys and Girls Club, clean-up days at the church, and social events such as visiting a haunted house and lock-ins. The favorite lock-in is a Random Acts of Kindness event, when youth go into the community holding doors for people, handing out flowers, and passing out positive notes. The major event each year is a service trip to a city where the group helps for a week; recent destinations have included Brooklyn, Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, San Francisco, and Houston. Youth are also active as ushers, readers, and helpers around the building.
Women of the Church is a community of women who commit to grow in faith, affirm gifts, support one another, engage in ministry, and promote healing and wholeness. Activities include making school kits and layette packs, collecting soap, towels, blankets, and personal care items for Lutheran World Relief, giving Christian service after funerals, giving a Thanks Offering to the District ELCA, helping with clothing drives for the Crisis Center, supporting the Women's Re-Entry Program, preparing kits for a battered women and children's shelter, and helping to furnish and decorate the church parlor and narthex. Circle Meetings are held once a month and General Meetings twice a year.
The Voyagers Senior Group welcomes anyone over 55 who is free the last Wednesday of the month at noon. One does not need to be a Divinity member to join, and $15 annual dues cover entertainment and light refreshments. Nine meetings are held each year in the Fellowship Hall on the fourth Wednesday from September to May. After lunch, a short business meeting is followed by entertainment, and an Activities Chairperson handles the entertainment and sightseeing tours.
New Member Classes are offered three times a year, with staff and lay leaders describing Parish Life, Social Ministry, Witness, Stephen Ministries, Parish Education, Worship, Youth, Library, Women of the Church, Finance, Stewardship, Property Management, Communications, Voyagers, and Via de Cristo.
Outreach in Parma Heights and Cleveland
Divinity's outreach stretches from Parma Heights to the near west side of Cleveland, where the Redeemer Crisis Center serves seniors, the disabled, families, the homeless, and those facing unexpected circumstances such as medical emergencies, accidents, the death of a family member, or the need to help a relative with housing.
On the second Sunday of each month, Divinity volunteers prepare a community meal at Redeemer attended by over 100 people, providing the food, cooking, serving, and cleaning up. On holidays and special occasions, the church provides gifts for Redeemer clients. In one month, diners receive packed lunches donated by Divinity members. Several times a year, Divinity's confirmation class packs food bags, sorts clothes, and serves the holiday dinners. The Giving Tree tradition places ornaments in the Narthex at Christmas, with about 150 gifts distributed annually to Redeemer children, and a new socks collection provides three pairs of socks for everyone at the Christmas dinner. In summer, Divinity sponsors a week of Bible School at Redeemer with a half-day program of Bible study, crafts, recreation, and a snack, assisted by retired teachers.
Divinity also partners with the YMCA of Greater Cleveland to offer affordable summer childcare for area families. Other outreach partners include Lutheran World Relief, Parma Park Elementary School, the men's shelter at 2100 Lakeside, and Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry.
Parish Health, the Food Pantry, and Hall Rentals
The Parish Health Ministry supports activities that promote the health of body, mind, and spirit. Free blood pressure screenings are offered on the second Sunday of every month from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the Small Conference Room. Health Education articles are published each month in the parish Digest, with corresponding readings posted in the restrooms. First Aid Kits are located in the Ushers' Room, the Main Kitchen, the Nursery, and the Main Office. Follow-up phone calls are made to those who have had a baby or been recently discharged from a hospital or rehabilitation facility. Meals are offered to Divinity family members who need them. An Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is located on the wall in the office hallway. Parish Health Ministry also provides a healthy mid-week Lenten Meal. A $500 scholarship is available each year to a Divinity student pursuing a career in health care.
The Food Pantry serves people within the congregation and the surrounding community who are in need of food assistance. By appointment, visitors can shop in the pantry, which is set up like a small grocery store with selections based on family size. Emergency Bags provide a two- to three-day supply of food for those in immediate need, and Senior Bags offer smaller servings for seniors.
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are held at the church, accessed through Door D2 next to the parking lot exit on Blossom.
The Fellowship Hall, a gymnasium that accommodates up to 200 guests, is available for birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, banquets, community events, organizational meetings, workshops, training sessions, and business meetings. An attached kitchen is available for a nominal fee, and select classrooms can be reserved for breakout sessions or smaller gatherings. The space is ADA-compliant.
Arts in Action and the Hybrid Pipe Organ
Arts in Action uses the church as a venue for community outreach in all forms of the fine and performing arts. Over the years, more than 4,000 people have passed through the doors into the sanctuary for Arts in Action events, including concerts by organists Hector Olivera, Rodney Barbour, and Tangled Blue, singer Scott Hanoian, and the Parma Symphony Orchestra. Local talent and visual artists have presented their work, and handbell choirs, barbershop singers, and Divinity's own musicians have given performances. Arts in Action has also teamed up with area high schools to present concerts, including the John Rutter Requiem and Mendelssohn's Elijah. Concert livestreams of these performances are available online.
What Lutherans at Divinity Believe
Divinity Lutheran is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Lutherans emphasize education and the study of Holy Scripture. Martin Luther wrote the Catechism to help pastors and parents teach children what it means to be a Christian, and Luther translated the New Testament into the everyday German language so all could read it. Luther summed up what Lutherans believe by quoting St. Paul in Ephesians: "We are saved by God's grace through our faith in Jesus Christ."
Luther also wrote: "Faith is God's work in us. It changes us and makes us to be born anew of God. This faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly."
Divinity is a faithful congregation of people that responds to faith in Christ by serving others in the congregation, in the Cuyahoga County community, and in the world, providing limitless opportunities to serve through Divinity and ELCA ministries. Lutherans believe they are called to be the Body of Christ in the world today.
Visiting Divinity
Divinity Lutheran Church is located at 11877 Blossom Avenue, Parma Heights, Ohio 44130. The church office can be reached at (440) 845-2060, with office hours Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Warmline number is (440) 885-4244.
Worship services are held on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (traditional, chapel), Sunday at 9:00 a.m. (traditional, sanctuary), and Sunday at 11:00 a.m. (liturgical contemporary, sanctuary). Services are livestreamed online, and a large sermon archive of audio recordings, video, and PDF text is available, with messages dating back many years.
Electronic giving is available through a secure online form, via text message to 877-741-7796, and through the Vanco Mobile app for Android and Apple devices. Giving can be set up as a one-time gift or as recurring donations with a bank account or credit/debit card.
New Member Classes are hosted three times each year, with staff and lay leaders describing the many areas of parish life and ministry.