Parma Lutheran Church sits at the corner of Broadview Road in Parma, Ohio, a Cuyahoga County suburb just south of Cleveland. One neighbor described the congregation simply as "The Church on the Corner Doing Good Things," a phrase that has stuck because it captures both the building's prominent location and the congregation's outward focus. As a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Northeastern Ohio Synod, Parma Lutheran has been a presence in the city since January 22, 1933, and is now approaching its centennial.
The congregation gathers to worship, pray, share, mourn, and celebrate together. Its identity is rooted in Christ rather than in any political or social ideology, and the people of Parma Lutheran describe themselves as a family who seeks to follow the example and command of Jesus to love one another. That identity shapes everything from weekly worship to the Parma Hunger Center food pantry that distributes groceries to hundreds of Parma families each year.
Worship on Sundays and Wednesdays
Parma Lutheran offers two weekly worship services, and both include Holy Communion. The Sunday service gathers at 10:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary, with a coffee and juice fellowship meet and greet in the Brick Lobby beforehand. In the summer months, the same service moves to 9:00 a.m. and is held in the Fellowship Hall. A Zoom option is available for those who cannot attend in person; participants join with Meeting ID 833 11544720 and Passcode 135 789.
On Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m., a second, shorter worship service is held in the Bible Study room off the small kitchen and brick lobby. That service is also offered on Zoom (Meeting ID 882 6996 9396, Passcode 170918). When the weather is warm, the Wednesday gathering sometimes moves outdoors to the Rose Garden. A Saturday evening service was offered in the past but is no longer part of the schedule.
Visitors and members fill out a yellow attendance slip found in the bulletin and place it in the offering plate so the church can keep a record of who has joined them. The slips also serve as a quiet communication channel to Pastor Jay or the church office, a place to add a prayer request, a worship suggestion, or simply a hello.
Holy Communion at Both Services
Holy Communion is celebrated every week at both the Sunday and Wednesday services. Parma Lutheran's teaching is that Jesus Christ is truly present in the bread and wine, and that in the partaking of this meal, sins are forgiven and the assembly is strengthened and nourished in God's love. The congregation extends the invitation broadly: anyone is welcome at the table regardless of church affiliation, denomination, or none.
Pastor Jay often speaks about Communion as the high point of his week. In a column he described the moment the bread and cup are raised and the Words of Institution are spoken as "the hub of a wheel from which spring the spokes of all ministries." Those who come forward and wish not to receive are offered a blessing. The trays of individual cups include white grape juice for those who prefer not to drink wine, and gluten-free wafers are available for those who need them.
A Year Walked with the Liturgical Calendar
The worship at Parma Lutheran follows the church year, beginning with Advent and the Christmas cycle (Advent, the twelve days of Christmas, and Epiphany), continuing through Lent and Easter, and finishing the year in the long Season after Pentecost. Each season shapes the readings from the lectionary and the choice of creed: the Apostles' Creed is used in Lent and most of the year, while the Nicene Creed is prayed on festival days and during Advent, Christmas, and Easter.
The building itself carries the marks of a liturgical tradition. The chancel, nave, narthex, and altar follow traditional names, with the chancel and altar remaining bare from the stripping of Maundy Thursday through the Vigil of Easter. The Paschal Candle is lit during the fifty days of Easter and at baptisms and funerals, representing the presence of the risen Christ. Two altar candles are lit when worship is about to begin, and an eternal flame burns on or near the altar as a sign of Christ's enduring presence. The poured concrete ceiling in the nave is, by Pastor Jay's telling, the only one of its kind in Ohio, and is shaped like the hull of a ship, an old image of the church as a vessel carrying its members through the world.
Music at Sunday worship is led by Music Director and Sunday Organist Dan Zaranec, who has served the congregation for many years. Hymnody from the ELCA's hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, is supplemented during Advent and Christmas by seasonal carols. Assistant ministers, lectors, greeters, and communion assistants all serve in volunteer roles that members are encouraged to consider as a way of exercising their gifts.
Pastor Jay: A Chaplain-Turned-Shepherd
Rev. Jeffrey "Jay" Scott Plummer answered Parma Lutheran's call in the fall of 2021. The congregation's Ministry Site Profile described the kind of pastor they were looking for: a shepherd, pastor, leader, and innovator who would help them face the challenges of a changing community and bring joy and excitement to ministry. Those same words are framed on his desk as a daily reminder of his mandate.
Before coming to Parma Lutheran, Pastor Jay served twenty-two years as a U.S. Navy chaplain and is a two-time Iraq War veteran. He deployed with the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Army, served sailors and Marines at sea, completed two tours in Okinawa with the Navy Seabees, and served three years in Iceland as a Lutheran-Episcopal pastor to a joint congregation. He also served as the Ninth Coast Guard District Chaplain, homeported in downtown Cleveland, and it was during that assignment that he and his wife, Melanie, made northeast Ohio their permanent home.
Pastor Jay describes himself as a practical theologian, and his preaching and teaching are conversational in tone, aiming to help the congregation understand scripture and apply it to the challenges of daily life. He celebrated the 29th anniversary of his ordination in 2026. Members and visitors can reach him directly at (440) 502-1192 or through the church office.
Children, Youth, and Spark Time
Parma Lutheran takes seriously the words "We welcome families with young children in our worship." Busy bags filled with quiet activities hang on the wall of the stairs outside the Sanctuary for any young worshipper to pick up. On most Sundays, Pastor Jay offers a Children's Message following the Gospel lesson, and the correct answer to almost every question he asks is, as he likes to say, "Jesus Loves You!"
After the Children's Message, children age 9 and younger are invited to "Spark Time," a class held across from the nursery during Sunday worship. Spark Time uses the Spark Story Bible from Augsburg Fortress and focuses first on God's story and then on creating connections between church and home. Each child receives a copy of the storybook to continue reading with family during the week. Volunteers Beth Iafigliola ("Mrs. I") and Kelli Brown help lead the program. Parents and family members are welcome to come along as emotional anchors, especially for children age two and under. Children are brought back to the Sanctuary in time for Communion.
For older children, Youth Education (Sunday School) meets on the second Sunday of each month, September through May, from 12:00 to 12:45 p.m. in the Community Room, directly after worship. A light lunch is served. The program is open to children from pre-school through middle school. Kim Armstrong and Stephanie Antal lead the teaching rotation, and Bibles are available to any child who needs a more age-appropriate copy; visitors and members are invited to ask Pastor Jay if a new Bible is needed.
The three-year Confirmation program is suggested for students in sixth through eighth grades and meets once a month. The first year focuses on reading the Gospels and Acts together; the second year walks through The Lutheran Handbook, including the Small Catechism, alongside fellowship, service, and worship leadership opportunities. The 2025 Confirmation Class was confirmed on Reformation Sunday and included seven young people pictured with Pastor Jay and confirmation leader Linda Duffy.
An Active Youth Group
The Youth Ministry at Parma Lutheran is open to all ages from birth through twelfth grade, and the program is open to members and non-members alike. Friends are always welcome. The Youth Group hosts monthly birthday parties for the wider congregation, runs fundraisers like the annual Pasta Dinner and Rummage Sale, and organizes outings such as movie nights, bowling, and Lock-Ins. In recent seasons, the group has taken trips to Luther Farms, baked Christmas treats, held Nativity readings, and marched in the City of Parma's Fourth of July parade with a float promoting Vacation Bible School.
The youth also assist at Vacation Bible School each summer. The 2026 theme is "Rainforest Falls: Exploring the Nature of God," and the program runs for a week in mid-June with a free dinner served to registered participants and their families at 5:30 p.m. each evening, followed by the VBS program from 6:15 to 8:30 p.m. The program is free, open to children age three and potty-trained through sixth grade, and welcomes children from both the congregation and the wider community. Volunteers are always needed to help with preparation and the week itself.
Adult Bible Study in Three Settings
Adults at Parma Lutheran have three weekly opportunities to dig into scripture together, all held in the Bible Study Lounge off the small kitchen in the brick lobby. On Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., Joseph Arendt leads a discussion group. After Sunday worship, Pastor Jay hosts a second conversation beginning at noon. On Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m., Pastor Jay leads another group discussion that gathers before the Wednesday evening service. The Gloria Ann Book Club also meets periodically on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to discuss books together.
For members who want to go deeper at home, a daily devotional called Christ in Our Home is offered at the church and follows the same lectionary used in worship, so the readings during the week track with what is being preached on Sunday.
The Parma Hunger Center
The Parma Hunger Center is Parma Lutheran's largest community outreach ministry and one of the church's most visible works of mercy. The food pantry began in 1969 when Jim and Evelyn Minard, members of the congregation, began gathering food for fellow members who were struggling financially. The effort grew through the 1970s and 1980s, and the Hunger Center was chartered by the Hunger Network in 1984. Today it serves up to roughly one hundred Parma families each week.
The Hunger Center is housed inside Parma Lutheran Church at 5280 Broadview Road, with its own entrance in the back of the building near the parking lot closest to Tuxedo Avenue. It is staffed almost entirely by volunteers, who unload a weekly delivery truck from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and stock shelves with canned and boxed goods, fresh produce, chicken and other meats, and a small assortment of non-food items like soap, toothpaste, and deodorant. Visitors do not need an appointment: they may come in during operating hours and shop for what they need. The pantry is open Tuesdays from 2:00 to 3:45 p.m. and Fridays from 10:00 to 11:45 a.m., with the last client accepted fifteen minutes before closing. Eligibility is limited to residents of the City of Parma whose household income falls below federal guidelines; clients should bring an ID showing a Parma address.
Donations are welcome on Tuesdays between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. or Friday mornings between 9:00 a.m. and noon. The Parma Police Department, area schools, and local businesses all run food drives throughout the year in support of the Center. In one recent quarter, the Hunger Center served 811 families comprising 2,310 individuals.
The Community Garden
On the front lawn of the church sits the Parma Lutheran Community Garden, an organic, family-friendly growing space that is part of the congregation's community ministry. The garden is open to all church members and anyone from the wider Parma community, with no restrictions on participation. Primary applicants must be eighteen or older, but supervised youth are welcome. Gardeners are expected to grow food and donate roughly ten percent of their harvest to the Parma Hunger Center and other local food programs.
The garden was created in 2011 and has expanded over the years. The entrance pergola was painted "tomato red" in 2025, and the dedicated Hunger Center plots and individual gardener donations have produced tens of thousands of pounds of produce over the life of the project. The garden is led by Garden Director Brett Iafigliola and Co-Manager Marilyn Molzan. Applications for plot rentals may be dropped off at the office, mailed in, or emailed to the garden team.
The Community Give Back
In addition to the Hunger Center and the Community Garden, Parma Lutheran runs a monthly Community Give Back program that collects specific items for local charities. Each month, the congregation focuses on a different set of needs, and donations are gathered at the church office. Past collections have filled domestic violence kits assembled by PLC's Community Ministry, supported Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital with coloring books and crayons, supplied The City Mission of Cleveland with coffee cups and snacks, helped Ronald McDonald House with toiletries, and provided goods for Womenkind Prenatal and Maternal Care Center, the Malachi Center, and the Parma Police Department's Community Ministry Closet. Monthly lists and updates are published.
Free Community Meals and Fellowship Gatherings
On roughly one Thursday evening each month, Parma Lutheran hosts a free Community Meal open to anyone in Parma who would enjoy a warm dinner and some company. The meals are hosted by member families or small groups, with the Community Ministry covering the cost of food and the church office helping to coordinate volunteers. Recent menus have included chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes with salad and cake, and the gatherings draw a mix of regulars and first-time guests who have seen a Facebook post and decided to stop by.
Fellowship within the church is just as important as outreach beyond it. The Fellowship Ministry plans bus trips, potluck dinners, Lenten Soup Suppers, a coffee fellowship before Sunday worship, and the monthly Christian Men's Breakfast and Ladies' Time Out Breakfast. The men's breakfast meets at 8:30 a.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Demetrio's Family Restaurant on Broadview Road in Seven Hills, and the combined men's and ladies' breakfast meets at the same time on the fourth Tuesday. Anyone interested is welcome to attend.
A Building That Tells a Story
The Parma Lutheran building was designed and built in the early 1960s for one of the largest Lutheran congregations in northeast Ohio. In the 1960s and into the 1970s, multiple worship services drew nearly four hundred people each Sunday, and the south wing was built to accommodate a Sunday school program of five hundred students. The poured concrete ceiling in the nave remains a unique architectural feature in the state of Ohio.
Those days are gone, and the building now has more space than the congregation can use on its own. To make the most of what God has given them, Parma Lutheran rents space to a number of outside groups. The Fellowship Hall and Main Kitchen host Weight Watchers meetings several times a week; two AA groups meet on the property; a glass collector club, a Girl Scout troop, and other organizations rent rooms regularly; and a senior day care provider has expressed interest in leasing classroom space when funding allows. Two other Christian congregations also worship in the building, including North River Church, led by Pastor William P. McKisic, which gathers at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays in the Fellowship Hall. Rentals are coordinated through the church office, and Parma Lutheran offers the space to AA free of charge, with the groups contributing a monthly offering in gratitude.
Pastor Jay has framed the future of the building as a stewardship question rather than an identity question. As the building approaches sixty years of service, the congregation is studying whether to renovate in place, downsize, or relocate to better fit the current membership and the ministries to which God is calling them now. Decisions will be brought to the congregation for a vote.
Worship Leaders, Volunteers, and Lay Ministries
Worship at Parma Lutheran is supported by a wide range of lay volunteers. Lectors read the lessons, greeters welcome visitors at the door, communion assistants serve at the table, and assisting ministers help lead the liturgy. Communion Ministers are also needed to bring already consecrated bread and wine from the Sunday altar to the eight or so homebound members of the congregation each month; Pastor Jay provides an hour of training and accompanies volunteers on their first visit.
The six standing ministries of the congregation are Education and Youth, Evangelism, Fellowship, Community, Property, and Worship, each represented on the Congregation Council. Members who want to get involved can talk to Pastor Jay, who can help them discern their gifts, or reach out to the committee representatives. The 2026 ministry representatives include Stephanie Antal and Kim Armstrong for Education and Youth, Dan Zaranec and Mike Taylor for Worship, Kim Cummings for Community, and Alan Duffy, Jim Mulbach, and Todd Woelfl for Property. Open positions include Fellowship, Evangelism, and Hunger Center.
Becoming a Member
Membership at Parma Lutheran happens in one of three ways: baptism, affirmation of faith, or transfer from another ELCA congregation. Anyone interested in learning more can attend a New Membership Class with no commitment to join. Classes are held periodically, and a new member dinner is hosted for those who have been attending worship and want to get to know Pastor Jay and the congregation.
Giving, Prayer, and Staying Connected
Online giving is available through a secure electronic giving portal. Members may also give by check or cash, with the yellow attendance slip used to designate gifts to the General Fund, Capital Fund (restricted to physical building needs), Hunger Center, or another purpose such as the Pastor's Discretionary Fund. The Sonbeam, the congregation's monthly newsletter, is delivered by email, mail, or hand from the Narthex or church office.
A prayer list is maintained and distributed to roughly 125 prayer partners who commit to praying through the names they receive. Names are added with the permission of the person being prayed for and are kept on the list for one month unless updated. Prayer requests can be submitted by writing on the back of a yellow slip or by contacting the church office.
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Voicemail and email are checked three times a day regardless of whether anyone is in the building. On average, more than five hundred people pass through the building each week between worship services, Bible studies, the Hunger Center, AA meetings, Weight Watchers, Scout meetings, and rentals, a sign that Parma Lutheran is, as one neighbor put it, a fluid community outreach building, open for all.
A Family Rooted in Christ
Whether members have attended Parma Lutheran for decades or are walking through the doors for the first time, the welcome is the same. As Pastor Jay has written, the congregation is committed to proclaiming faith in Jesus Christ and following him, so that individual lives and the wider church community may reflect him and his love for all people. At Parma Lutheran Church, that calling is lived out week by week, in word and sacrament, at the table, in the garden, and in the food pantry that has fed Parma families for more than half a century.