A Lutheran Congregation on Washington Boulevard Since 1894
Mount Olive Lutheran Church and Christian Day School stands on the north side of West Washington Boulevard in Milwaukee's Washington Heights neighborhood, a few blocks west of the old 5327 address that has anchored the congregation since 1923. The parish describes itself with three phrases: Rooted in Jesus, Growing in Grace, Branching Out to Others. Everything that happens here - Saturday and Sunday worship, the day school that fills the building on weekday mornings, a choir that sings most Sundays, a Sunday service interpreted in American Sign Language - flows from those three commitments.
Mount Olive is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and belongs to the South Wisconsin District. Its beliefs are stated in plain terms on the church's own pages: the Bible is the inspired Word of God and the final authority for faith and life; nothing in the Christian life is earned but is received by grace through Word and Sacrament; and the people of God are sent out from the building to live as his ambassadors. Worship follows the historic Divine Service, and Holy Communion is celebrated at every weekend service.
Saturday Evening and Sunday Morning Worship
Two services anchor the week. On Saturday at 4:00 PM and Sunday at 9:30 AM, the congregation gathers in the sanctuary for the Divine Service with Holy Communion. The Sunday service is livestreamed on YouTube, and past services are archived on the church's YouTube playlist.
Visitors who arrive for the first time are greeted at the door and handed a service folder that contains the Scripture readings and a guide for following the liturgy. Hymnals are in the pew, and hymn numbers are posted at the front of the sanctuary next to the balcony. The readings follow the church's three-year lectionary so that the story of salvation is told in full each year, drawing texts from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels. Preaching is described as both challenging and formational, and music - congregational hymnody, choir offerings, and instrumental music - supports participation rather than substituting for it.
Because Holy Communion is celebrated every weekend, visitors who have not communed at Mount Olive before are asked to speak with the pastor beforehand. Those who do not commune are welcome to come forward during the distribution to receive a blessing; crossing the arms over the heart signals that wish to the pastor.
Worship in American Sign Language
One of the most distinctive features of Mount Olive is its ministry with the Deaf community. The 9:30 AM Sunday service is interpreted into American Sign Language, and an ASL Bible class meets on Tuesdays at 3:00 PM. On Mondays at 5:30 PM, anyone who wants to learn ASL is invited to an ASL practice session - children are welcome in this class - so that hearing members can sign through the service and converse with Deaf members.
Pastor Mike Schleider himself regularly leads a Bible study for the Deaf, and interpreted services for the Deaf were first offered in the spring of 2022. The church's commitment to accessibility extends into the building: Door W2, on the southwest corner, is at street level and opens directly onto the elevator, allowing those who use mobility devices to reach the sanctuary without stairs.
Music That Serves the Liturgy
Music sits at the center of Mount Olive's life. The music ministry, led by Kantor Stephen Rosebrock, has three stated purposes: to serve the liturgy and support the proclamation of the Gospel, to engage the congregation in vigorous singing of hymns and liturgy, and to offer music that draws the listener into contemplation of the faith.
The Mount Olive Choir is the principal ensemble. About two dozen singers strong, the choir rehearses on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings and sings most Sundays from September through June. Its repertoire is broad - chant, chorales, motets, cantatas, polyphony, anthems, and spirituals - and it is open to young adults and adults with prior choir experience.
Younger singers are served by the Schola Cantorum, a children's choir affiliated with the Royal School of Church Music in America. Open to children ages eight through fourteen who can match pitch and commit to the schedule, the Schola sings for ten to twelve services a year, and each summer the church hosts a one-week Schola Cantorum day camp focused on music-making, faith formation, and fun.
A handbell ensemble and a brass choir round out the program. The instruments available to the music ministry are noteworthy: a 45-rank, three-manual pipe organ built by Berghaus and installed in 1987, a single-manual harpsichord built by Roger Anderson in 1989, a 1978 Model O Steinway grand piano, and a five-octave set of Mallmark handbells.
Mount Olive Christian Day School
The day school is as central to the parish's identity as the worship service. Mount Olive Christian Day School serves students from Pre-K through 8th grade, with one classroom per grade and a 14-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio. The school describes itself as a ministry of the church whose mission is to Prepare a New Generation in the Faith, encompassing formation in the Christian life, academic development, life in community, and personal character.
Families have four ways to pay for the school: the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, tuition, or the Olive Branch Tuition Assistance scholarships offered by the congregation. The school exceeds expectations on state testing and has earned four stars in academic experience. Graduates regularly place in the high schools of their choice around the city.
All teachers are state-licensed, and many hold advanced degrees. Beyond the standard curriculum - which still includes the classical skills of cursive, handwriting, spelling, grammar, and phonics - students in grades 1 through 8 can take electives in music, art, gym, band, student government, 3-D printing, drama, and STEM. Free morning drop-off and affordable on-site after-school care are available, and speech and occupational therapy are offered on site at no charge to students of all ages.
The school building was completed and dedicated in 1951, with three additional classrooms added in 1959. A gym followed in 1976. In 2014 the school added a full-time counselor, and in 2021 Phase 1 of a modern playground and outdoor classroom/garden was completed. The school is led by Principal Erin Ballard, a Mount Olive teacher since 2007 and recipient of the Neubauer Prize for Urban Teaching in 2022 and the LCMS South Wisconsin District Elementary Teacher of the Year award in 2023.
Music and Athletics for Students
Music is taught by a specialist at every grade level. Pre-K through 5th grade students have music class twice a week, with the early childhood program built on First Steps in Music and the elementary program using John Feierabend's Conversational Solfege. Middle school students can join the school band, the handbell ensemble, ukulele fundamentals, or take one-on-one woodwind, brass, or percussion instruction beginning in 5th grade. The school's music teachers are Kantor Stephen Rosebrock and Erica Rosebrock, who also directs the school band and assists with the Schola Cantorum.
The Trojan athletic program, an extension of the school's mission, is offered in three seasons. Fall brings co-ed cross country and girls' volleyball, winter brings boys' and girls' basketball, and spring brings co-ed soccer and track. The athletic philosophy is stated plainly: athletics are an extracurricular part of the total learning experience, designed to teach sportsmanship, teamwork, discipline, fair play, and self-sacrifice in an atmosphere where athletes, coaches, and fans strive to be Christ-like. Abigail Hansen serves as athletic director while also teaching 8th grade.
Sunday Morning Education for Every Age
From 11:00 to 11:45 AM on Sundays, after the Divine Service and a time of fellowship downstairs, the parish offers a full slate of Christian education.
Sunday School gathers children in two groups: Pre-K through 1st grade in the Pre-K room and 2nd through 5th grade in the library. Activities, crafts, service projects, and discussion connect to the same readings heard in worship. Middle school and high school students meet separately for Youth Bible Study, which uses the Inductive Bible Study method - observation, interpretation, and application - to help young people learn to study Scripture on their own and to pray for one another. Adults gather in Weber Hall for a Bible class led by the pastor, with topics that change through the year.
Beyond Sunday mornings, three other weekly gatherings extend the parish's teaching ministry. On Mondays at 5:30 PM, hearing members are invited to the ASL practice session. On Tuesdays at 3:00 PM, the ASL Bible class meets. On Wednesdays at 6:30 PM, an online Bible study connects members and friends who cannot be in the building. The church also maintains an extensive library for children and adults, with an online catalog.
Counseling, Inclusion, and Family Support
Danika Hojnacki serves as the full-time Head of Counseling and Student Services. A licensed professional counselor, she provides one-on-one counseling to students, leads small social skills groups, and teaches social-emotional learning in every grade. She also works with the principal and faculty to identify student needs and points families toward outside resources. The counseling office is a long-standing fixture of the school: the position was added in 2014.
Throughout the year, the parish partners with parents - research, the church notes, shows that parents are the primary influence on a child's faith - and the parents who send testimonials from the school community speak to the relationship between school and family. The school describes its community as mirroring the world its students live in, and the parish is intentional about serving families of many different backgrounds and needs.
A Building Designed to Welcome
Visitors approaching the church for the first time are directed to the parking lot, which is accessed from 54th Street, a one-way street running north. Limited handicap parking is available in the lot. There is also ample street parking on Washington Boulevard and on 53rd Street, which is one-way southbound. Door W2 on the southwest corner is the accessible entry: it is at street level and leads directly to the elevator that serves the rest of the building. The main sanctuary doors are also clearly marked, and ushers greet arrivals with a service folder.
Children are welcome in worship throughout the service, and activity bags are available in the Narthex for young ones. A mother's room, located across from the women's restroom downstairs in the Church Parlors, is set aside for parents with infants. The building also houses the school offices, classrooms, gym, and the church library.
One Hundred and Thirty Years on the Same Corner
Mount Olive's history stretches back to February 1894, when a small group organized as Mount Olive English Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Milwaukee. The new congregation was part of the English Synod, which would later become the English District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. In October 1895, the first sanctuary was dedicated on North 4th Street near West Walnut, and a larger sanctuary on the same site was completed and dedicated in April 1905.
By the early 1920s, the congregation had outgrown its downtown location. In March 1923, after the completion and dedication of the present sanctuary, the congregation moved to its current location in the Washington Heights neighborhood - the same Washington Boulevard the church now calls home. In 1941, Mount Olive left the English District and joined the South Wisconsin District of the LCMS, where it remains today.
In 1946, Mount Olive began broadcasting its worship services over the radio - a ministry that continued for seventy years before being replaced by livestreaming over the internet. The congregation started its school in 1950, and in April 1951 the school building adjacent to the sanctuary was dedicated. Three additional classrooms were added in January 1959, and the gym followed in February 1976. The current pipe organ was installed and dedicated in September 1987, replacing earlier instruments.
The last two decades have brought quieter but no less important changes. In 2014, the school added its full-time counselor. In 2021, Phase 1 of a modern playground and an outdoor classroom and garden transformed the school's outdoor space. And in 2022, Mount Olive began offering interpreted services for the Deaf, a development that has since shaped both the worship life and the educational program of the parish.
Leadership and Pastoral Care
Pastor Mike Schleider, an M.Div. graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary, leads the Word and Sacrament ministry at Mount Olive. He has been involved in youth or school ministry for more than three decades, regularly preaches and teaches, and leads the Bible study for the Deaf. His background includes service in the U.S. Marines, a career as the chief of a rural sheriff's department, and previous board service with Lutheran Legacy and the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee of the Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments. He has been married for almost forty years and has two married children and four grandchildren.
Stephen Rosebrock, the Kantor, directs the choirs, serves as organist, teaches music in the school, and plans the liturgical life of both church and school. A long-time member of the Royal School of Church Music in America, he has served on its board of directors and taught at its summer courses; he has also been an adjunct faculty member at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He and his wife Erica, the school's instrumental music teacher, are both members of the Milwaukee Chamber Choir.
Supporting the Mission
Mount Olive's ministry is funded by the regular offerings of its members and friends. Tithes and offerings support the congregation's pastoral care, its outreach, and its day school. Giving is accepted in person and online, and donors may direct their gifts to several funds: the General Fund, Missions, Monthly Benevolence, the Music Program, Upkeep and Repair, the Olive Branch Program (which provides tuition assistance to school families), Restoration, School Gifts, and a Special Appeal fund.
The parish keeps in touch through a weekly email called the Weekly Wrap-up, which anyone may subscribe to receive. A weekly service folder is published online as well, with the readings and an outline of the liturgy for the upcoming Sunday.
Getting in Touch
The church office can be reached by phone at 414-774-2200, and general inquiries may be sent through the online form. Families considering the school can use a separate Prospective School Family Inquiry form. Worship services are held on Saturday at 4:00 PM and Sunday at 9:30 AM at 5327 W Washington Blvd in Milwaukee, with the Sunday service livestreamed on YouTube and interpreted in ASL.