A Sandy Congregation on East 9800 South
Grace Lutheran Church and School stands on East 9800 South in Sandy, Utah, where it has shared the gospel of Jesus Christ since the early 1980s. The congregation is a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and is known for combining a historic liturgical worship tradition with a PreK through upper-grade Lutheran day school and a steady stream of mission partnerships that reach from the Wasatch Front to Haiti, the Bahamas, and Belize.
From a Memorial Chapel to a Church and School on 9800 South
The Grace story begins on December 6, 1981, when a small group of members from Christ Lutheran Church gathered at Berg's Memorial Chapel with Pastor John Fiene to hear the gospel. Within months the group had outgrown its meeting place and moved to the Mountain Shadows Reception Center, where, on March 21, 1982, the name Grace Lutheran Church was chosen, a constitution was signed, and a formal call was extended to Pastor Fiene. The new congregation had 103 baptized members, of whom 71 were confirmed.
Ground was broken on the current site at 1815 E. 9800 S. in September 1983, and the first service in the new building was held on Palm Sunday 1984. The church soon added Little Lambs Preschool, which grew over the years into a full elementary school serving students from age 2 through the upper elementary grades. Three more building expansions through 1999 produced the Grace Lutheran campus that stands today, including the sanctuary, classrooms, and the spaces that host the school and the Kids Place before- and after-care program.
From the beginning, Grace has been a planting congregation. It helped establish Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Riverton, sent members on short-term mission trips to Haiti, the Bahamas, and Belize, and is currently working to build up a mission church in Spanish Fork. The Spanish Fork work is the next chapter of the same vision that has shaped Grace since 1981.
Divine Service Each Sunday Morning
The Sunday gathering at Grace is called the Divine Service, and it begins at 9:30 AM. The service is livestreamed and recorded on YouTube so that members and friends can watch or listen at any time and from any place. The liturgy is the historic Lutheran Divine Service, with sung portions, the reading of Scripture, a sermon, and the celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar.
Grace practices closed communion in keeping with 1 Corinthians 11:29, meaning the sacrament is offered to those who have been baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod or one of its partner churches. Visitors who are not yet prepared to commune are warmly invited to come forward during the distribution for a blessing; crossing the arms at the communion rail signals that intention to the pastor. Pastor Lamont also offers confirmation classes for all ages, so that those who wish to commune at Grace can prepare to do so.
Dress at Grace is relaxed. While a few members wear suits and ties, most dress in business casual - a button-down shirt, a knee-length dress, or a clean pair of jeans is entirely appropriate. The congregation's own welcome to first-time guests reads simply, "come as you are."
A Sunday Afternoon Service in Spanish Fork
Grace also maintains a satellite gathering in Spanish Fork. On Sunday afternoons at 3:30 PM, the congregation meets for Divine Service and Bible Study at the Angelus Theater, 165 N. Main Street. Members from the Sandy campus and the Provo metro area worship together, and visitors from the Provo area looking for a Lutheran congregation are welcome to join.
Sunday School and the Youngest Disciples
A short Sunday School class meets right after the Divine Service at 11:20 AM. Designed for newborns through preschool-age children, the lesson is kid-friendly and welcomes families who want their little ones to begin learning the Bible stories alongside the gathered assembly. Older children and youth are part of Grace Lutheran School's weekday faith formation, where Scripture memory, weekly chapel, and catechism instruction are built into every grade.
A Lutheran School from PreK2 Through the Upper Grades
Grace Lutheran School has been a ministry of the congregation since 1984. It offers a traditional, basic curriculum for children aged 2 through 6th grade, with a published course of study that also covers 7th and 8th grade. The school draws students from Sandy, Salt Lake City, Holladay, Draper, Park City, Utah County, and the broader Wasatch Front. Music, art, sports, and computer classes are part of every week, and before- and after-school care (called Kids Place) is available from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM on school days, with reservations taken the day before.
The school is accredited by the National Lutheran Schools Association, and the faculty is described as small-class, dedicated, and rooted in the same Lutheran confession as the congregation. A financial aid program is administered through FACTS Grants and Aid Assessment, and a 2% tuition discount is offered to families who prepay by May 31. Two community-funded programs support the school year-round: the Box Tops for Education mobile app and the Smith's Rewards program (organization number YS431). A Tuition Referral Incentive Program also rewards families and community members who help bring new students to the school.
Faith is woven through every grade. In the two-year-old classroom, the central truth is that Jesus loves you. Three-year-olds learn that God made everything and that Jesus died and rose for them. Pre-kindergartners at age 4 are introduced to the Father who made them, the Son who died and rose to forgive them, and the Spirit who makes them part of God's family. In kindergarten, students begin reciting the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer with meaning, learn Baptism as God's promise, and practice Confession. First graders identify the arc of Creation, the Fall, and the Resurrection. Second graders learn that Jesus took their sins away to give them life. Third graders discover that the Spirit creates faith through Word and Sacraments. Fourth graders confess that Jesus saves by grace alone. Fifth graders hold to the Reformation center: Scripture tells, grace gives, faith receives. Sixth graders find that the cross means victory over sin and that the Spirit delivers gifts through Word and Sacrament. Seventh and eighth graders work through justification by grace through faith, the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, the Office of the Keys, and the worthy reception of the Lord's Supper.
School staff include the school administrator for the upper grades, the 2-year-old preschool teacher, the 3-year-old preschool teacher, the 4-year-old preschool teacher, and the kindergarten teacher, along with teachers for the older elementary grades. The school is open every school day for visits, and families can request a personal campus tour by emailing school@gracesandy.org or calling 801-572-3793.
Missions From Sandy to the Ends of the Earth
Grace Lutheran frames its mission work with the words of Acts 1: witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. The local layer is the church and school itself, where members proclaim, connect, and grow together. Beyond that, Grace is in fellowship with a number of sister LCMS congregations in the Salt Lake City metro area - Christ Lutheran in Murray, Holy Trinity in Riverton, Redeemer in Salt Lake City, Saint John's in Salt Lake City, Cross of Christ in Bountiful, and First Lutheran in Tooele - and across the state of Utah, including Saint Paul in Ogden, Holy Trinity in Logan, Good Shepherd in Richfield, Our Savior in Vernal, Grace in Moab, Trinity in Cedar City, and Trinity in Saint George. The growing mission church in Spanish Fork is the next fruit of that same vision.
Internationally, Grace has walked alongside three partners for years. In Bouyaha, Haiti, the congregation supports a sister school, Grace Lutheran Church and School, that opened in October 2018 in a one-room building with a partition for classrooms during the day and an altar in the front for church services. The school began with 60 students and now serves about 100 children ages 5 to 12. Members have traveled to Haiti to lead Bible studies and Vacation Bible School, sent a shipping container of laptops, soccer balls, educational supplies, and gardening tools, and helped start a school lunch program. In Nassau, Bahamas, the relationship extends to All Saints Camp. In Belmopan, Belize, Grace prays for and supports Rev. Micah and Robin Wildauer, LCMS missionaries who serve as church planters throughout the country and help train future pastors at Seminario Concordia el Reformador in the Dominican Republic. Before Belize, the Wildauers served in Dapaong, Togo, from 2015 to 2020.
Annual Rhythms: From Trunk or Treat to the Christmas Fireworks
A handful of recurring events give the church and school calendar its shape. Trunk or Treat fills the church parking lot in late October with decorated trunks, candy, and costumes; volunteers set up a clear tub in the narthex for candy donations, and congregants vote on their favorite trunk. In December, Christmas in the Nighttime Sky lights up the sky with a free fireworks show, hot chocolate, a visit from Santa, and a toy drive for children in foster care; a new, unwrapped toy or gift card for ages 5 to 16 is the only ask. The event is sponsored by Lantis Fireworks and Lasers. Vacation Bible School takes over the building for a Christ-focused week of half-day programming (9:00 AM to 12:00 PM) for children entering kindergarten through 6th grade, with themes that have included Miraculous Mission and Rainforest Explorers. In the summer, Camp Invention brings a week of STEM day-camp fun to the school campus for the same age range. Each year, students in 4th grade tend the Grace Giving Garden to provide fresh produce for people in need, and a Veterans Day luncheon and program open the building to the wider community. The church's annual Easter EggStravaganza fills the campus with an egg hunt, games, music, popcorn, cotton candy, story time, and a food truck from Slow Drawl BBQ.
Beliefs: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone
Grace Lutheran is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and shares the confession summarized in three short phrases from the 16th-century Reformation: Grace alone, Scripture alone, Faith alone. The congregation teaches that the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - created all that exists, that Jesus Christ became human to suffer, die, and rise again for the sins of all people, and that the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith through Word and Sacrament.
Grace alone means that God's love and forgiveness in Christ are gifts received, not earned. Faith alone means that the Holy Spirit works faith in believers through the hearing of the Gospel, who then personally receive all the benefits of Christ's death and resurrection. Scripture alone means that the Bible is God's inerrant and infallible Word, revealing both Law and Gospel, and is the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine. Grace Lutheran belongs to the LCMS Rocky Mountain District, which serves Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, and Pastor Masinelli has served as Utah's Circuit Visitor for the District, helping to oversee other pastors within the circuit.
Meet Pastor Jeremy Lamont
Rev. Jeremy Lamont was born in Logan, Utah, and was raised in the LDS church before converting to Christianity as an adult after several years of hearing God's Word. He came to ministry as a second career, with prior experience supporting applied technology and medical devices, and he often draws parallels between teaching theology and tech support as a way of helping people understand what Jesus has done for the world. He is continuing his pastoral education through Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Pastor Lamont has two daughters who were baptized into the Christian faith before he was, and to them he is always "dad." He also shares a regular column called Pastor's Picks, recommending podcasts, audiobooks, and other resources for building up the faith - among them KFUO Radio (the LCMS's own radio station, marking its 100th anniversary), 1517.org podcasts like A Field Guide to the Bible and 40 Minutes in the Old Testament, Issues Etc., and the audio Book of Concord.
Giving, Prayer, and Getting Connected
Members and friends can support the ministry of Grace Lutheran through online giving by credit or debit card, through the offering plate on Sunday morning, and through community programs like Box Tops for Education and Smith's Rewards that direct a portion of everyday purchases to the school. Prayer requests can be submitted online for inclusion in the printed bulletin, the prayers of the church during the service, or private pastoral follow-up. Families interested in the school can request a personal campus tour by emailing school@gracesandy.org or calling the school office. The church office can be reached at 801-572-6375.
Grace Lutheran Church and School stands as a small but durable witness on the east side of the Salt Lake Valley - a place where the Divine Service is sung each Sunday, where the catechism is taught in every grade, and where a congregation that began with 103 baptized members in 1981 has grown into a church, a school, and a network of mission partnerships that reaches from Sandy to Haiti to Belize.