"Do Kindness" in Downtown Ellsworth
English Lutheran Church stands at 229 West Main Street in Ellsworth, Wisconsin, where it has long served as a downtown congregation. The church's tagline, "A Christ-centered, serving community. Do Kindness.", shapes everything the parish does, from a Sunday worship service to a small garden shed out back, a December cantata sung at a local care center, a Wednesday morning brunch, and a ministry partnership that reaches halfway across the world.
English Lutheran is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, part of the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin. The church shares a ministry partnership with the Chileka Mission in Malawi, Africa, and keeps that link visible in its prayers and announcements.
Sunday Mornings at Nine
Worship is held every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. in the sanctuary on Main Street. The service is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook, so members who are traveling, sick, or at home can join in. Children worship with their families for the first part of the service and go up for Holy Communion or a blessing before being dismissed with their teachers.
Sunday School meets from 9:45 to 10:15 a.m. September through May for children ages 3 through 6th grade, with a large-group lesson, an activity, and music each week. Rally Sunday at the start of the program year is a community kickoff.
Confirmation on Wednesdays
Wednesday evenings belong to Confirmation. Classes meet at 6:00 p.m. and are open to students in grades 6 through 10, with parents strongly encouraged to attend an orientation night at the start of each program year. The curriculum follows a three-year rotation: Old Testament one year, New Testament the next, and Luther's Small Catechism the third. Each week includes a discussion guide for small groups.
Women's Brunch, Men's Breakfast, Kingdom Kids
Midweek mornings and afternoons are full of smaller gatherings. On the second Wednesday of every month, women of the church meet in the lower level at 9:30 a.m. for brunch and Bible study, working through the Gather magazine. Pastor Pete cooks; a freewill donation of $5 covers the food, and there is a Bible study in November without a brunch.
On Thursday mornings at 8:00 a.m., Pastor Pete is in the church kitchen again, this time cooking breakfast for the men. The rotating menu includes fruit, coffee, orange juice, and oatmeal. After the meal, the men clean up together. A $5 donation helps cover the cost of food.
Kingdom Kids gathers 4K through 5th graders on the first Wednesday of the month from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., October through May. A bus brings children straight from Ellsworth Elementary School. They have a snack, sing songs, play games, and learn about God. Families are invited to join them for supper at 5:00 p.m.
Choir, Quilts, and a December Cantata
Music is a long-standing ministry at English Lutheran. Missy Kowalchyk directs the Adult Choir, which rehearses after Sunday worship on scheduled Sundays and on Wednesday evenings, then sings for worship several times each season. Ava Maxwell serves as accompanist. The choir's big moment is a Christmas cantata each December, performed at the church and then taken on the road to the Ellsworth Care Center and Preferred Living.
On another part of the calendar, a separate group of quilters meets to assemble handmade quilts for the congregation's graduating high school seniors. The effort is coordinated by Judy Erickson and Tammy Brenner. Sewing skills are not required, since some members stitch the tops at home and the group meets to tie the layers together. Materials and monetary donations are welcomed.
The Sharing Shed, Prayer Shawls, and the Pierce County Fair
Kindness also takes a physical form outside the back entrance of the church. The Sharing Shed is a small, unlocked garden shed that anyone in the community can use. Members drop off basic necessities and seasonal apparel - never electronics, never furniture - and neighbors who need those items help themselves, no charge and no questions. The shed stays open around the clock.
The Prayer Shawl ministry offers handcrafted shawls and blankets to anyone going through a tough time. The church office can connect a family with a shawl at no cost.
Each year the congregation runs a food stand at the Pierce County Fair, with volunteers baking pies, making gravy, chopping vegetables, and serving hot beef dinners. Other community-mission efforts include Thanksgiving Turkey Baskets, a Christmas Giving Tree, the Souper Bowl collection for hunger, and Random Acts of Kindness projects.
Giving, the Endowment, and the Malawi Companion Church
English Lutheran offers a full giving program. Members can give online through the Vanco giving portal, set up recurring electronic gifts by completing an E-Giving form, or download the GivePlus mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Paper checks and cash offerings are still part of the rhythm, and a monthly newsletter, Cross Beams, keeps members informed.
An ELC Endowment Fund, invested through the ELCA Foundation, allows members to leave gifts that keep giving back to the church, the community, and mission partners. The fund is governed by an ELC Permanent Resolution and an Endowment Policy, with distributions handled through a request form reviewed by church leaders.
The church's longest-distance mission relationship is with the Chileka Mission in Malawi, Africa, organized through the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin. Members support the companion congregation through prayer and giving, and information about the partnership is shared regularly in worship and in Cross Beams.
English Lutheran Church gathers at 229 West Main Street, Ellsworth, WI 54011. Sunday worship begins at 9:00 a.m., both in person and online.