A Lutheran Congregation in Lakewood Ranch
Living Lord Lutheran Church has called Lakewood Ranch in Bradenton home since its founding members set up a storefront worship space in March 1987. The congregation now worships on an eight-acre campus at 11107 Palmbrush Trail, two miles east of I-75 at the southeast corner of State Road 70 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. The church's motto - Loving, Learning, Living and Serving in Christ - captures four words that show up again and again in its ministry descriptions. The congregation numbers more than 350 members and runs both a Sunday school program and a weekday preschool, alongside community groups that use its building for everything from Boy Scouts to recovery meetings.
Living Lord is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and belongs to the Florida Bahamas Synod. Its pastor is Terry M. Courter. Minister of Music Thomas Pizzi leads three ensembles, and Erin Bonifate directs All God's Children Preschool on the same campus.
From a 1987 Storefront to an Eight-Acre Campus
The first service of worship took place on March 29, 1987, in a storefront that volunteers had prepared for worship. By spring 1991 the members were ready to build. Ground was broken on the current Palmbrush Trail site in September 1992, the first Christmas Eve service in the new building was held in 1993, and the sanctuary was dedicated on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1994.
In October 2002 the congregation launched its Building for the Son expansion campaign. Within six months about 70 percent of the members had pledged $256,000 over three years. Around the same time, Pastor Jeffrey Gross accepted the call and was installed in February 2003. In October 2003 the new Education Building was dedicated. That building now houses adult education, Sunday school, and All God's Children Preschool.
The next major project came in 2009, when the sanctuary was extended to add more fellowship space. Ground was broken in July, the first service in the new space took place in December, and the expanded sanctuary was formally dedicated in January 2010. The $400,000 project was built, trimmed, and furnished entirely mortgage free, made possible by the congregation's giving and volunteer labor.
Sunday Mornings at 9 and 11: The Journey and Traditional Worship
Sunday mornings at Living Lord offer two services with different feels. At 9:00 AM, The Journey - a contemporary praise service - features the By Grace Praise Band, a meaningful message from the pastor, and Holy Communion. At 11:00 AM, the traditional service follows a liturgical setting with prayer, scripture readings, a sermon, hymns led by a soprano cantor, and Communion. Organ and a grand piano accompany the music at the later service.
Both services include Communion. The sermon runs about ten to fifteen minutes and is delivered in a conversational style. A Children's Message is offered at the 11:00 service. Words and music are projected on screens at the front of the sanctuary, so no hymnals are needed. Bulletins are sent electronically to anyone who would like to print a copy at home. Light refreshments are available between the two services near the east entrance.
The dress code is casual. Sandals, shorts, and jeans are welcome. Newcomers are encouraged to arrive fifteen to twenty minutes early to get oriented and meet members before the service begins. Both services are livestreamed, and the church maintains an archive of recent audio sermons online.
All God's Children Preschool on the Same Campus
All God's Children Preschool shares the campus with the congregation. Founded as a mission of the church, the program serves children ages two through five, Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM during the school year. Early Care from 8:30 to 9:00 and Stay and Play from 1:00 to 2:30 extend the day for families who need additional hours. The preschool offers a VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) program through the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County, with classes for two-year-olds, three-year-olds, and prekindergartners.
Erin Bonifate directs the program, with Andrea West as assistant director. The preschool follows the Manatee County Public School Calendar, so closures for weather or holidays match the local schools. Teachers complete a state-required forty-hour child care course when they begin and continue with ten hours of training each year. Tuition information is shared on request.
Christian Education from Toddlers to High Schoolers
Christian Education at Living Lord is described as a lifelong process. The church offers programs for children, youth, and adults.
For the youngest members, a class for three-year-olds through third grade meets during both the 9:00 and 11:00 services. Older children and teenagers attend Faith Formation classes from 10:05 to 10:55 each Sunday during the school year, sometimes in person and sometimes by Zoom. Children entering third grade receive a Children's Action Study Bible at the start of the school year.
Middle schoolers meet on the first and third Sundays from 12:15 to 1:00 PM for lunch and Catechism instruction. Catechism is a three-year program covering the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Bible. Eighth graders prepare through April and May for their Confirmation on Pentecost Sunday.
High school youth gather on the third Sunday of the month from 12:15 to 2:00 PM for lunch, devotion, and games. A High School Faith Formation class meets on Sunday mornings at 10:05 and focuses on Peer Ministry Leadership Skills. Throughout the year, young people serve as acolytes, lay readers, communion assistants, greeters, live-stream operators, and musicians at both worship services.
For adults, the Pastor's Bible Study meets on Wednesday afternoons at 1:00 PM in the Activities Hall. The group looks ahead to the Sunday Lectionary scripture and the themes that may shape the coming sermon. No advance preparation is required.
The church also celebrates the school year with a Blessing of the Backpacks in early fall and offers a Christmas program each December. Vacation Bible School takes the form of an Extreme Day Camp.
Parish Life: Small Groups, Nursing, and Stephen Ministry
Parish Life is the team that tends to the emotional and spiritual well-being of members and visitors. Several smaller groups operate under its umbrella.
Christian Life Groups are small gatherings that meet on a variety of days and times. They are designed for the many members who moved to Florida from elsewhere and arrived without local family or friends. Each group chooses its own format. Some work through Martin Luther's Small Catechism; others read novels that expand their Christian perspective; others follow a video series. Newcomers, family, and friends are welcome.
Faith Community Nursing pairs professional nursing with intentional spiritual care. The faith community nurses at Living Lord perform blood pressure screenings on the first and third Sundays of each month and post monthly educational material on a bulletin board in Sanctuary Hall. Topics have ranged from heart disease and stroke prevention to childhood immunization and sun safety. The nurses partner with St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg and meet monthly with faith community nurses from other congregations in Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice.
Stephen Ministry equips lay people to provide confidential one-on-one Christian care. Living Lord has twelve trained Stephen Ministers who have completed fifty hours of initial training, plus monthly continuing education. Three Stephen Leaders - Barb Miller, Helen Howe, and Randy Hanson - have completed an additional week of training. Stephen Ministers meet with their assigned care receiver for about an hour each week through whatever difficulty the person is facing - grief, divorce, hospitalization, job loss, terminal illness, incarceration, or any other major life challenge.
Other Parish Life activities include a monthly Lunch Bunch that meets at local restaurants, a Widow's Ministry, A Stitch and Prayer quilting group, Tai Chi, and a Fellowship team that organizes church-wide events and provides weekly coffee and cookies before and after Sunday worship.
Three Music Ensembles Under One Director
Minister of Music Thomas Pizzi leads three ensembles at Living Lord. By Grace is the praise band that plays at the 9:00 AM Journey service. The musicians include singers, guitars and other stringed instruments, percussion, and keyboard, and they play contemporary praise music from its beginnings to the present. Jubellation is the handbell and chime choir. The Chancel Choir is the vocal adult choir that sings at the 11:00 traditional service, supported by organ and grand piano with a soprano cantor leading the hymns and liturgy.
The musical range runs from Renaissance to contemporary, and the ministry encourages solos and small ensembles. Pizzi has also given several jazz concerts for the congregation and the wider community. Musicians of all ages are welcome, including seasonal residents who want to lend their talents while they are in Florida.
A Mission Footprint from Bradenton to the Ends of the Earth
The church paraphrases Acts 1:8 to describe its mission footprint: You will be my witnesses in Bradenton and Sarasota, in all of Florida and the United States, and to the ends of the earth.
Locally, members support Meals on Wheels, Our Daily Bread of Bradenton, and Riviera Palms Rehabilitation Center in Palmetto. The Outreach Team runs food collections for Meals on Wheels, infant clothing and formula drives, school supply collections, and personal care item shoe boxes for residents at Riviera Palms. Bake and craft sales raise money for various nonprofits, and the Angel Tree program provides Christmas gifts for adopted families. Members also deliver altar flowers to shut-ins.
At the state level, Living Lord supports S.M.A.R.T. and Luther Springs, a Lutheran camp in Florida. Nationally, the church gives to Lutheran Social Services, Souper Bowl of Caring, and Novus Way Ministries. Internationally, contributions go to Lutheran World Relief, World Vision, and the Lutheran Association of Missionary Pilots.
The church building itself is a community hub. Several local groups meet on site, including Boy Scout Troop 191, Cub Scout Pack 191, Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Alienated Grandparents Anonymous, and a Taoist Tai Chi class.
A Lutheran Understanding of Grace, Scripture, and Sacraments
Living Lord's statement of belief describes Lutherans as Trinitarian Christians who hold that Jesus Christ is the true and only Son of God and that God's grace meets human frailty and failure. Lutherans trace their name to Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk and biblical scholar who posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the Wittenberg church door in 1517.
The church accepts the Bible as the manger in which the Word of God is laid - the primary and authoritative witness to the Christian faith, written across many centuries by many authors. Lutherans accept two sacraments as God-given means of grace: Baptism, in which God establishes a new community and welcomes people into the body of Christ, and Holy Communion, in which the bread and wine convey the real presence of God's forgiveness and mercy.
The church teaches that life with God persists beyond death and that judgment is both a present and a future reality. Anxiety about the future is not a mark of faith. Christians are called to live each day in service, trusting in God's grace and sharing that love with others at every opportunity.
A Place in Lakewood Ranch
Worship is at 9:00 and 11:00 on Sunday mornings at 11107 Palmbrush Trail in Lakewood Ranch, just outside Bradenton. Office hours can be reached at (941) 753-9365 or info@LivingLordFL.org. The monthly newsletter, The Living Lord's Voice, is sent by email near the end of each month, and a weekly email called The Living Lord Link goes out with news and reminders. Pledge forms, the annual report, and the congregation's constitution and by-laws are available for download online.