At 2000 South Lemay Avenue in Fort Collins, Our Saviour's Lutheran Church is a Christian community of more than 1,000 members in the Rocky Mountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is known for varied worship music, two weekly in-person worship gatherings, a 9:30 a.m. Sunday livestream, education from preschool through adulthood, and service partnerships that support families experiencing homelessness.
Saturday Evening, Sunday Morning, and a Livestream
The congregation's weekly pattern begins with Saturday evening worship at 4:30 p.m. and continues with Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m. Both services take place at 2000 South Lemay Avenue. The 9:30 a.m. Sunday service is livestreamed and shared on Facebook, while earlier worship services can be watched through Vimeo. Visitors who want the church to know them are invited to complete an online registration form; the information is used internally by staff.
Worship is grounded in Word and Sacrament. The congregation recognizes Baptism and Communion as its sacraments and understands the Bible as God's word. During services, worship assistants lead the prayer of the day, read scripture, and assist with Communion. Acolytes light candles, carry the cross, help at Communion, and extinguish the candles at the close. Music may range from classical choral works to folk, Gospel, and contemporary material, allowing the congregation's “wide variety of musical settings” to be heard across the worship rhythm.
Coffee, Doughnuts, and a Place for Children
Coffee and doughnuts are familiar parts of the 9:30 Sunday gathering. Coffee hosts have the coffee ready by 9:25 a.m. and the congregation gathers for coffee hour after worship. Children have a dedicated playroom during the service, with games and crafts, while youth staff bring them into worship for the children's message and Communion. After worship, children gather for Sunday School from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. for Bible stories and faith learning designed for kids.
A Faith Shaped by Grace, Brokenness, and Justice
Our Saviour's mission statement is direct: “We welcome all to the love of Christ through worship, serving, and learning.” Its theology begins with a distinctive image. Four pieces of broken glass form a cross in the church's logo, expressing the belief that people see Christ together in their brokenness. The congregation trusts a loving, grace-filled God who walks with people through whatever they face and understands the sacraments as signs of God's presence in the lives of believers.
As a Reconciling in Christ congregation, Our Saviour's rejoices in the diversity that has enriched and challenged its shared life. It invites everyone to participate in Word and Sacrament without discrimination based on race, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or financial status. It also stands with people committed to racial and social equity.
The church begins with a land acknowledgment honoring the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Oceti Sakowin, and Ute peoples whose ancestral homelands include the place where the congregation gathers, along with Indigenous siblings who have cared for the land and continue to call it home.
From a 1965 Mission to a Full Sanctuary
Organized in 1965 as a mission congregation of the Lutheran Church in America, Our Saviour's first met at O'Dea Elementary School. The original fellowship hall was completed in 1967 and became the congregation's first building unit. An educational wing followed in 1977. An organ purchased in 1978 served until its replacement in 2001. Growth led to the much larger sanctuary in 1988, and an addition to the education wing in 1991 completed the building as it now stands. The congregation now serves more than 1,000 members through worship, Church School, activities for ages three through high school, an active music program, and a preschool. Its Lutheran heritage reaches back to the Protestant Reformation, while its current identity is rooted in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its Rocky Mountain Synod.
That mix of history and continuing growth is visible in the congregation's ministry. Music and worship occupy a central place, children and adults learn together, and service extends well beyond the church's own membership. For example, the church's active music program has a substantial institutional history: the handbell choir has been ringing since 1983, and the present sanctuary and education complex grew in stages across more than two decades.
Choirs, Bells, Brass, and a Contemporary Band
Music is one of the clearest ways Our Saviour's expresses its variety. Several groups serve worship throughout the year and offer different ways for people to participate.
- Chancel Choir: Gus Brockmann directs the choir, which rehearses Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. from September through May and sings in worship about twice a month. Its repertoire includes Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, folk and Gospel roots, and modern choral works, with Festival Sundays, Christmas, Ash Wednesday, and Holy Week among its special opportunities.
- Celebration Band: Carrie Kaufmann leads the instrumental and vocal group that leads contemporary worship on the second Sunday of each month. The service often draws on Steve Eulberg's “Christ Is Our Peace” Holy Communion setting, and the band rehearses at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays before its second-Sunday service.
- Children's Choir: The choir welcomes children from preschool through fifth grade and rehearses Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. It sings about twice a month and takes a major part in the annual Christmas program and Easter music.
- Handbell Choir: The three-octave Schulmerich handbell and chime ensemble has existed since 1983. It rehearses Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m. from September through May, plays for Sunday services about once a month, and adds music for Christmas and Lent.
- Windstrings: This mixed instrumental ensemble welcomes all ages and levels of ability and rehearses Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. The group provides music for worship about once a month.
- Brass: Charlie Spillman directs the brass ensemble, which rehearses on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:00 p.m.
Music leadership here also reaches into worship preparation and technical support. Gus Brockmann is Minister of Worship and Music, prepares worship materials and outlines, coordinates weekly and seasonal worship, and supports the church's audiovisual and technical work. Donna Lewis accompanies Sunday worship and co-directs Windstrings with Charles Spillman, while Cody Thomas accompanies Saturday worship and Carol Bisbee accompanies the Children's Choir.
Children, Youth, and Families at the Center
Children are invited into all aspects of Christian life at Our Saviour's: fellowship, worship, learning, and service. Each week, a pastor or caring adult leads a children's word time, and children can take part in worship leadership, the Together in Faith ministry, and music groups. The church also places strong emphasis on faith formation in the home. Its baptism preparation offers parents and sponsors support, encouragement, learning resources, and fellowship opportunities through the year.
On Sundays, the playroom gives children games and crafts from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. while youth staff accompany younger children to the children's message and Communion. Sunday School follows from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. with a kid-centered exploration of Bible stories. Once a month, Pastor Leta leads Pray & Play in the playroom for children ages zero to five and their families, combining play, simple teaching, prayer, and fellowship.
Wednesday evenings add a full rhythm for children and teenagers. Kids' Club runs from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. throughout the school year with games, faith learning, and dinner at 5:30. Confirmation meets from 6:00 to 7:00, and the High School Youth Group meets from 7:15 to 8:15. The youth ministry also leads Vacation Bible School, Sunday activities, and the Gather FoCo young-adult group with Pastor Leta. Minister of Children, Youth, and Family Maggie Nieberger works across these programs with a team that includes youth staff and adult leaders.
Our Saviour's Lutheran Preschool
Established in 1996, the preschool provides developmentally appropriate activities that support early learning and school readiness. Children work on letter and number recognition, shapes and colors, beginning math and literacy, small and large motor skills, social and emotional development, and the routines of a school day. The teaching team is described as educated, enthusiastic, and attentive to each child's strengths and needs. The preschool welcomes children of all abilities, races, and beliefs, reflecting the wider commitment to belonging that shapes the congregation.
Learning, Conversation, and Common Tables
Adult faith formation is understood as a lifelong process. People can join short- or long-term small groups for conversation and study, and Community Wednesday Nights make several groups part of one weekly rhythm.
- Kids' Club: 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
- Handbell Choir: 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
- Windstrings and Confirmation: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
- Children's Choir: 6:00 to 6:30 p.m.
- Bible Study: 6:15 to 7:00 p.m.
- Chancel Choir: 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
- High School Youth Group: 7:15 to 8:15 p.m.
Other recurring gatherings give adults room to study and speak honestly. Theology Pub meets every fourth Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on the second floor of Bad Daddy's Burger Bar at 347 E. Foothills Parkway. It is a place for open conversation about faith, including respectful disagreement, with elevator access and parking by X-Golf. An intercessory prayer group follows the Thursday morning Bible study, using the ACTS pattern of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Quiet participation is welcome. The Brown Bag Book Study meets Fridays at noon, with each chapter treated as an independent entry point, and the OSLC Book Club meets on the first Monday of each month at 4:00 p.m. The church library supports further reading and reflection.
Caring Conversations meets on the second Saturday of each month for people experiencing grief or sadness connected to death, job change, aging, illness, or family relationships. The group is open to anyone dealing with a difficult circumstance. It is one of several expressions of the church's one-to-one care.
Faith and Justice at the Center of Public Life
The Faith & Justice Team understands advocacy as speaking or pleading on behalf of another. It holds that hands-on help for people experiencing poverty, vulnerability, or oppression is incomplete without asking why those conditions exist, what policies could change, and how people of faith can speak truth to power. Adult forums bring together current events and social issues for study, discussion, and action. Team leader Beth DeHaven guides this work, which includes education, letter writing, legislative awareness, and collaboration with people in positions of power.
The team's concerns range from hunger and federal food policy to voting, creation care, family well-being, and the treatment of immigrants and refugees. Its work also includes recommended books, films, documentaries, and resources for difficult conversations across differences. Faith & Justice partners with organizations such as the Interfaith Council, ISAAC, Together Colorado, the League of Women Voters, and other advocates. The church's Faith & Justice work repeatedly returns to a simple conviction: faith calls people not only to assist those in need but to pursue justice in society.
When a Family Needs a Safe Place to Sleep
Faith Family Hospitality is the overnight housing program of Family Housing Network and supports families in Fort Collins experiencing homelessness. The interfaith program can accommodate four guest families, up to 22 parents and children, at a time. Fifteen host congregations rotate through the work, while more than 1,300 volunteers provide care throughout the year. Each guest family receives a private room for sleeping and securing possessions, a warm evening meal, breakfast each morning, packed snacks and a lunch when desired, and hospitality from the host congregations. Stays can generally extend up to three months, with flexibility for each family's stabilization needs. Our Saviour's partners with St. Luke's Episcopal Church and Temple Or Hadash to host families for one week each quarter or for two weeks twice a year.
One Village One Family takes another approach. Teams of four or five congregation members work with families experiencing homelessness for about three hours a month over six or seven months, following an initial training. Our Saviour's also raises $1,500 toward a family's initial housing costs. The Mobile Laundry adds a practical service by washing, drying, and folding laundry for qualified students and families in the Poudre and Thompson school districts. The truck follows weekly locations in Fort Collins on Tuesday and Loveland on Thursday and Friday.
Homes, Food, and a Hand Beyond the Walls
Our Saviour's supports Habitat for Humanity by volunteering for home construction, serving lunch to construction crews, selling goods at Habitat's ReStore, leading youth projects, raising funds for faith-build homes, and joining global volunteer efforts. Together with three other ELCA Lutheran churches and two partner churches in the FOCOLU Habitat Faith Builders partnership, volunteers can help build homes one day each month for about ten months of the year.
The Outside Our Walls group connects community needs with fundraising and service. Its work includes collecting clothing and other practical supplies for the Oglala Sioux Tribe at Pine Ridge, food drives for the Food Bank of Larimer County, clean-water filter kits, and support for Homeward Alliance and the Murphy Center for Hope. These projects reflect the church's wider pattern of moving from concern to practical action, whether the need is shelter, food, clothing, or affordable housing.
Pastoral Care, Membership, and the People Called to Serve
Stephen Ministry extends the church's care through trained lay caregivers called Stephen Ministers. They offer confidential, Christ-centered, one-to-one support to people who are hurting. Pastor Leta Arndt Behrens, called to Our Saviour's in 2011 and serving with the congregation since 2010, is active in interfaith relationships, boards connected to housing and Habitat, and service to North Colorado's refugee community. She is committed to grace, love, and justice and works closely with families, children, and youth.
Visitors are welcome at all church activities, and membership is an optional way to connect more deeply. Orientation is offered twice a year and one to one. New members are matched with a congregation sponsor, and the pastors meet with them. The church also provides baptism preparation and Celebration of Life services. Giving is available online.
Pastor Leta works with Minister of Worship and Music Gus Brockmann, music leaders Carrie Kaufmann, Donna Lewis, Charles Spillman, Cody Thomas, and Carol Bisbee, and pastoral intern Mandy Toms, who is studying Word and Sacrament at Luther Seminary. Maggie Nieberger leads the children's, youth, family, and young-adult ministries. Together, these leaders reflect a congregation that organizes much of its life around worship, learning, music, care, and service.
A Congregation with Room for Many Kinds of Gathering
At the center of Our Saviour's remains the simple promise to welcome people to the love of Christ through worship, serving, and learning. From the sanctuary's blend of classical, folk, Gospel, and contemporary music to the preschool, Wednesday gatherings, and interfaith service partnerships, the church continues to build on the fellowship hall, sanctuary, and education wing it has grown into since 1965.