Hosanna Lutheran Church and Little Palms School share a Mesa campus at 9601 E. Brown Road, Arizona 85207. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation is known by the phrase “Shaping Lives in Christ” and for making education, worship, and family life part of one church community. Little Palms gives that connection a daily presence through its Christ-centered preschool and Pre-K, while adults, children, youth, and families gather for classes, shared meals, music, service, and the Word.
Two Sunday Services, One Family of Faith
During the school year, Hosanna gathers for Sunday worship at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.; the summer Sunday schedule is 9:30 a.m. Services take place at Hosanna Lutheran Church, 9601 E. Brown Road, in Mesa, Arizona 85207. The church and Little Palms Preschool share the same campus, making the church's Sunday rhythm and the school's weekday life part of one connected setting.
Hosanna understands worship as prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. Multiple families gather as one family of faith to sing praise and receive God's Word and sacraments. The emphasis is on shared worship that gathers people across generations. Children are explicitly welcomed into that gathered worship, and families are encouraged to worship together. The 8:00 a.m. service often includes the Hosanna Choir, which sings most Sundays in fall and winter. Donuts are available on the patio just before the Sunday school-year services.
Worship recordings and updates are available through MyChurchEvents. A map brings visitors to the shared Brown Road location.
Little Palms: Learning Through Play and Prayer
Little Palms carries the mission of “making an eternal difference in the lives of children and their families through the love of Jesus Christ.” The school is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and serves as a ministry of Hosanna Lutheran Church. It offers Preschool, Pre-K, and Kinder Prep classrooms on a flexible schedule, with developmentally appropriate learning for each age and stage.
The youngest classroom receives diapering and potty-training assistance, while children in more advanced classrooms are expected to be independently toilet trained. Experienced teachers and aides plan for individual abilities and needs. Little Palms gives children time to experiment, discover, and grow in an unhurried and accepting atmosphere, balancing spiritual, physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and creative development.
A Curriculum for the Whole Child
Little Palms implements state standards while using hands-on exploration and discovery. Interactive smart boards and individual tablets support early learning, while the curriculum emphasizes observation, prediction, critical thinking, and problem solving.
- Language arts combines vocabulary, reading, spelling, storytelling, writing, music, and song.
- Mathematics teaches concepts through traditional and hands-on approaches with an emphasis on problem solving.
- Social science introduces geography, community helpers and leaders, map skills, and current events.
- Science and health explore earth, physical, and life sciences from a Christian perspective.
- Physical education includes fitness, group games, basic sport skills, team play, and sportsmanship.
- Creative arts integrate music, movement, and art into the children's worship and learning lives.
Daily activities also build fine-motor skills through blocks, puzzles, games, toys, art, play dough, weaving, and other creative materials. Group time includes stories, finger plays, songs, helper duties, sharing, and theme-based events.
Chapel Is a Shared Rhythm
All enrolled children participate in age-appropriate chapel in the Sanctuary on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the school year, and parents and guardians are invited to join them. Each class also gathers for daily “Jesus time” to learn the week's Bible story and pray together. Songs, prayers, finger plays, puppets, and other teaching aids support the school's Christian formation.
Children also participate periodically in morning and midweek worship, sing with the congregation, and join the church for Family Christmas Worship. These connections help carry the Bible story beyond the classroom and into the life of the whole Hosanna community.
Hosanna Kids and the Sunday Crosswalk
Hosanna welcomes children of all ages. Hosanna Kids, for children in preschool through sixth grade, meets during the 10:30 a.m. worship service. Children first participate in the beginning of worship and then join a Sunday School teacher for a short lesson, story, and activity.
At 9:30 a.m., between the two school-year Sunday services, the Learning Center hosts the Crosswalk. It brings together an early childhood class, an elementary class, junior and senior high Bible studies, and adult classes. The schedule allows different generations to study at the same time while keeping them connected to one church and one Sunday rhythm.
Hosanna's family calendar includes a Back to School Blessing, Trunk-or-Treat, a children's Christmas Play, an Easter “Egg-stravaganza,” and other activities. Vacation Bible School welcomes children from four years old through fifth grade, while summer camp serves preschool and elementary children with weekly themes, games, outdoor activities, and afternoon care.
Wednesday Nights Begin at the Table
Wednesday is the congregation's broadest gathering for adults and youth. A shared dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Upper Room of the Learning Center, with a free-will offering, followed by classes from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Adult Bible Study, Hosanna Youth, and Lutheranism 101 meet during that evening.
Free childcare is available for children age 12 and younger during class time. Confirmation Class begins earlier, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., with dinner offered from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. for families whose students are attending.
Hosanna Youth is open to high school students and junior high students who have already been confirmed. Dinner is followed by Bible study, games, and conversation in the youth room from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. The group also takes part in service and fellowship activities such as campfires, concerts, movies, game nights, lock-ins, and fundraisers. Hosanna students also participate in the LCMS Youth Gathering, a national gathering held every three years in different U.S. cities.
Confirmation students receive letters from a prayer partner during the class year. They also enjoy fellowship activities with junior high students, creating a bridge between the classroom, the congregation, and the wider LCMS youth community.
During Advent and Lent, midweek services begin at 6:30 p.m., often preceded by a youth-served meal. The Hosanna Choir rehearses at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary, sharing its musical gifts with the congregation, especially during the 8:00 a.m. services in fall and winter.
Bible Study Across the Week
Adult Bible Study is offered at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays, with attention to the Scripture readings and further exploration of the biblical text. The Sunday Crosswalk adds adult classes led by Pastor Nick and Pastor Paul, giving families options for study between worship services.
Pastor Paul also leads the Thursday Morning Bible Study from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Upper Room of the Learning Center. The group combines serious examination of Christian teaching with the relaxed character of a morning coffee gathering.
Hosanna's New Member and Current Member classes explore the basics of what the church preaches, teaches, and believes. Lutheranism 101 uses Luther's Small Catechism and the Bible to explain the Lutheran understanding of the Christian faith, and it serves both as a review for current members and a route into membership for newcomers. The study is grounded in the invitation to be prepared to give an answer for the hope within, from 1 Peter 3:15.
Hospitality, Sewing, and Service
Hosanna's Hospitality Committee offers ways to serve through greeting, baking, writing cards, and helping people feel at home. Other volunteer roles include the Prayer Team and Prayer Partners, Bible Study leaders, Sunday School teachers, greeters, ushers, event helpers, home visits, church care, and grounds work. Board cleanup days and campus development projects also bring people together for practical service.
The Sew Giving group meets on Mondays twice a month to make quilts and gifts for local places in need. It joins practical creativity with direct community support. Choir and handbell music likewise offer service through the arts, while the Hospitality Committee extends that idea into the everyday welcome of church life.
Families can also participate in the Raise Right fundraising program through prepaid gift cards. Hosanna receives rebates through programs with Fry's, Bashas', and Safeway. Time and talents remain central to the church's life, with opportunities to teach, lead a group, greet, sew, assist at events, care for the church, and maintain the grounds. Online giving is also available.
International Student Ministry and Arizona Campuses
Associate Pastor Reverend Francisco “Jimmy” Aquino is also a missionary to immigrant communities of Arizona. He directs International Student Ministry - Phoenix: Connecting International Communities, known as CIC, at Arizona State University, and serves as a resource for other campus ministries in the Pacific Southwest District. His work connects international communities with opportunities to encounter Christian faith and the mission of making disciples.
Aquino's earlier ministry included international student work at University Lutheran Chapel in Lincoln, service in Macau, China, and coordination of the International Friendship House in Tempe. Experience across countries and campuses shaped his approach to learning from other cultures, caring for international students, and equipping ministry leaders.
Pastor Paul Frank grew up in Iowa and worked in film and video production before entering ministry. He holds a B.A. in communications from Grand View University and a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary. His work at Hosanna includes adult and Thursday Bible studies, new member classes, youth and young family ministry, older adult ministry, small groups, and the congregation's music and praise-and-worship life.
Pastor Nick leads adult Bible study, Annie Anderson directs Little Palms Preschool, John Snyder directs the Hosanna Choir, and Scott Brown serves as head elder. Together these roles reflect a congregation where teaching, worship, family formation, music, and pastoral care are shared responsibilities.
What Hosanna Believes
Hosanna's beliefs begin with the one true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - as revealed in the Bible. It teaches that people were made for a perfect relationship with God but rebelled by their nature. At the same time, the Bible declares God's love through the gift of his Son, so that those who believe in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus describes himself as “the way, the truth and the life.” Through him, people receive new life in the present and the promise of eternal life in God's heavenly kingdom. God's Word and the sacraments remain central to worship, while education is treated as a lifelong way of learning, growing, and sharing faith.
- God's Word has the final word and transforms people like clay in the potter's hands.
- Church is a family of faith that shares ordinary days and important moments together.
- Worship combines prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.
- Love takes action through the mission of making disciples.
- Each generation partners with the others in faith.
- Education and learning continue at every stage of life.
Hosanna belongs to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a body whose name comes from the Greek word for “walking together.” That image fits a congregation in which children, parents, students, adults, and seniors learn and serve as one community under the phrase “Shaping Lives in Christ.”
One Church-and-School Life
Hosanna's identity lives in the connection between its sanctuary and its classrooms. Children learn through play, prayer, and chapel; families worship together; adults study the Bible; youth share meals and service; the choir makes music; and the church puts time and talents toward local needs and international ministry. Little Palms School exists as a ministry of Hosanna Lutheran Church, giving the church-and-school relationship a daily presence. At 9601 E. Brown Road in Mesa, Hosanna Lutheran Church and Little Palms School remain one community centered on shaping lives in Christ.