St. John's Lutheran at a Glance
St. John's Lutheran Church and School has stood at 505 East Carpenter Street in Midland, Michigan since 1954, when the congregation moved into a building designed by architect Alden B. Dow, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most faithful disciples. The church itself is older by seventy years: a small group of German-speaking immigrants gathered it into being in June 1884, and on April 28, 1907, the voters' assembly resolved to affiliate with The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. That mixture of long memory and visible ministry to the present day shapes everything from the Sunday school wing to the diaper drive for the Backpack Buddies program.
Three Buildings, One Dow Design
The current sanctuary and school complex is the third home St. John's has known in Midland. Before 1954 the congregation worshipped in a former Baptist church and then in a building on Gordon Street (which today serves as the offices for a social ministry organization called The Caregiving Network). When it came time to build a permanent home, the voters chose Alden B. Dow, whose signature use of natural materials, horizontal lines and integrated gardens shaped much of Midland's built environment. The result, dedicated in 1954, is a single integrated structure that holds worship space, classrooms, offices and a fellowship hall - the building into which the school would relocate from its two-room Grove Street schoolhouse in 1959.
Christian education has been a constant since the first voters' assembly minutes that survive from 1894, when German was still the language of the services, the Bibles, the hymnals and the catechisms. The school itself ran on a thirty-year hiatus because state law required ten consecutive half-days of attendance and students had to travel four to twelve miles. In 1946 Mr. Herman Glawe and Mrs. Helen Stanford reopened the school with seventy-one students. St. John's Lutheran became the first school in the LCMS Michigan District to earn accreditation in 1979, a distinction it still carries through 2028.
Three Weekend Services, Two Musical Worlds
St. John's conducts three weekend services. Saturday at 5:00 pm is the Evening Worship, with music that varies from week to week. Sunday morning opens with the 8:00 am Traditional Worship, led from the Lutheran Hymnal with organ accompaniment, and continues with the 10:45 am Joyful Praise service, which trades the organ for the contemporary Joyful Praise Worship Team. Both Sunday services are livestreamed on the congregation's Facebook page and recorded for later viewing, while the Saturday service is offered in person only.
Holy Communion is celebrated at all three services on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of each month. Members who cannot attend regular worship may also receive private communion on Saturday mornings between 9:00 am and 12:00 noon - no appointment necessary, just a call to the church office. Those who want to dig into the readings between services are invited to the Bible Study that meets at 9:30 am in the lounge (and is also livestreamed on Facebook). A separate Saturday morning Men's Bible Study meets at 8:00 am.
Guests visiting for the first time are warmly welcomed at a Welcome Center just outside the sanctuary near the restrooms. The church office keeps regular hours of 9:00 am to 2:00 pm on weekdays, and the pastors are glad to set appointments outside those times with a quick call.
Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone
St. John's teaches the doctrine of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. The congregation confesses the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons coequal and coeternal - and accepts the historic Lutheran summary of Christian doctrine in three phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone. Grace alone names the truth that God loves sinners despite their rebellion and sent His Son to save the ungodly; Faith alone teaches that those who hear the Gospel and trust it receive the eternal life it offers; and Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura) affirms that the Bible is God's inerrant, infallible Word and the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine.
The congregation also confesses what Lutherans call the Means of Grace - His life-giving Word, the new birth in the water of Holy Baptism, and the eating and drinking of Jesus' body and blood in the Lord's Supper. These gifts are central to Lutheran worship and teaching. The LCMS subscribes unconditionally to the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as set out in the Book of Concord of 1580, viewing them as a true and unadulterated exposition of the Word of God.
A Christian Day School, Preschool Through Eighth Grade
Sharing the same Alden B. Dow complex is St. John's Lutheran School, a Christian day school enrolling about ninety-two students from preschool through eighth grade, with an average class size of thirteen. The school is accredited by both National Lutheran School Accreditation and the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools, and its Early Childhood and Extended Care programs are licensed by the State of Michigan. School colors are maroon and gold, and the mascot is the Eagle. The school day runs 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, with early dismissal at 11:30 am.
Technology is integrated into every grade: classrooms are equipped with wireless internet, ceiling-mounted projectors and document cameras, students in grades five through eight are issued laptops, and K-4 classrooms have iPads for extended learning. Computer coding is taught beginning in first grade. The school offers STEM, reading, art, music and religion programs; a hot lunch program; and Extended Care that runs from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm for families who need to drop off early or pick up late.
Preschool runs three tracks. Preschool 3 meets Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 to 11:30 am for children age three and young fours; Preschool 4 meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 to 11:30 am for fours and young fives; and Young 5 meets Monday through Friday, also 8:00 to 11:30 am, for children turning five. The Early Childhood Director works with parents to choose the best fit. Financial assistance in the form of scholarships and multi-child discounts is available.
SJL Kids and the Gospel Project
On Sunday mornings the children who arrive for Sunday School at St. John's are not simply babysat - they are catechized. Kids' Ministry runs between services for PreK through sixth grade. Children check in between 9:15 and 9:25 am in the Sunday School Room (#4, next to Weller Chapel); they gather first for a Large Group Bible lesson and then divide into Small Groups by age for discussion. Parents pick up children at the door, where a volunteer matches them with the right child. The 2026-27 curriculum is "The Gospel Project," which traces the storyline of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, pointing everything to Jesus.
Families with rising fourth, fifth and sixth graders are invited to Game Nights held in the church gym, with pizza, fellowship and a chance for parents to drop off and go. Family Fun Meetups offer an open-house-style morning of play, connection and a short devotional for parents and caregivers of younger children. A Family Life bulletin board across from the church office holds free FAITH5 bookmarks - a five-step daily devotional that walks families through sharing highs and lows, reading Scripture, talking, praying and blessing one another.
Senior High Nights, Wednesday Coffee, and a Cambodia Connection
Students in grades seven through twelve who want to dig deeper into Scripture have their own Sunday Bible Study at 9:30 am, opening in the sanctuary and moving to a space called "The Brick." Senior High Youth Night gathers students in grades nine through twelve each Sunday from 6:00 to 7:30 pm for large-group games, topical Bible studies, prayer and snacks, plus about one off-site outing, special event or service project per month. A Wednesday afternoon Girls Small Group for grades eight through twelve, led by Director of Family Life Ministry Anna Kruger, runs from 3:00 to 4:30 pm. The girls are welcome to bring homework, and around 4:00 pm the hour turns to devotion and prayer over coffee, hot chocolate, latte or mocha.
The youth ministry is closely tied to St. John's larger mission work. Stronghold Cambodia - a faith-based NGO in Kampot where children hear about Jesus' love in their own heart language for the first time - has been a supported mission since 2014. The 2020 Cambodia Mission Trip blog posts document the congregation's hands-on relationship with the work.
Handbells, Organ, and a Joyful Praise Band
Music carries a substantial share of the ministry at St. John's. The Chancel Choir is a community of men and women who sing mostly at the 8:00 am service, with extra performances around Christmas and Easter; rehearsals run Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the church from September to early June, and Director of Worship Music Karen Kempin welcomes new singers. The Handbell Choir rings at both Sunday services and around the great festivals, rehearsing Tuesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 pm September through May under Laura Maiers. The Joyful Praise Worship Team leads the contemporary 10:45 am service with vocalists and instrumentalists who prepare Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.
Soloists and small ensembles - both vocal and instrumental - are also encouraged to share their gifts at any of the worship services; rehearsals are scheduled around the musicians' availability.
Men at 8 am, Women in the Lydia Guild
A long-running Men's Saturday Bible Study meets at St. John's each Saturday at 8:00 am for a devotion, study or outreach opportunity - coffee and breakfast are welcome. The acronym B.I.B.L.E. is read as "Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth." The group is hosted by Al Paulsen and is open to all adult men of the congregation.
The women's ministry operates through several overlapping circles. All women of the congregation are automatically members of the Women of St. John's, which undertakes service and fund-raising projects; planning meetings are held on the second Monday of September, November, January, March and May. The Lydia Guild - named for the New Testament's Lydia - meets the fourth Monday of each month September through April at 6:30 pm in the lounge, with speakers and activities that rotate through service, fellowship, education and evangelism. The Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) joins with area Lutheran congregations periodically and collects mite boxes on the first Sunday of each month to support global missions. A Quilters group gathers every Wednesday morning from 9:00 to 11:00 am in the lower-level Multi-Purpose Room, sewing blankets for people in impoverished and war-torn areas. Altar Guild volunteers robe the altar through the church seasons; the Banner Team designs and constructs hanging banners; Friend to Friend provides ready-to-heat meals for families after illness or childbirth; and the Funeral Dinner Team prepares luncheons for families holding services at the church.
Prayer Warriors, Prayer Shawls, and the Visitation Team
Prayer at St. John's is not just a moment in the service - it is a sustained, organized ministry. Prayer Warriors meet at 12:00 noon on Tuesdays in Room 3 to pray for specific individuals, families, missionaries and situations, and new members are always welcome. The Prayer Chain - led by Linda Bebeau - sends prayer needs by email, so anyone who wants to be part of the network can join by contacting the church office. The Prayer Shawl Ministry stocks Closet 3C with knitted and crocheted shawls that have been prayed over by the Elders and the Prayer Ministry Team; members are welcome to pick one up to give to someone who could use encouragement.
A Visitation Team coordinated by Pastor Joshua Parsons visits roughly forty homebound members each month, accompanied monthly by the pastors and a deacon who bring the Word and the Lord's Supper. Hospital visits are arranged as needed. Pastor Parsons currently leads monthly nursing home services at six residential facilities in the Midland area, including Washington Woods, Riverside, StoryPoint, Kings Daughters, Medilodge and Brittany Manor. The Sunday service is also broadcast on MCTV channel 191 on Mondays at 5:30 pm and Tuesdays at 10:00 am for those who cannot attend in person.
Members from St. John's also lead a 2:00 pm Sunday worship service for inmates at the Midland County Jail, and used or new religious materials are collected in Closet 5C for distribution through New Directions Ministry in Lansing.
Backpack Buddies, Furnaces, and a Christmas Dinner
St. John's community-facing work is organized under what members still call "Social Ministry," now officially the Community Care Ministry and led by Joyce Battjes and Dennis Hitzman. The longest-running piece is the partnership with the Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network: "Blue Bags" are taken home from the back of the Upper Lounge, filled and returned on the second Sunday of each month. The Backpack Buddies program packs sixty bags of weekend food for preschool children at Meridian Early Childhood Center every other Wednesday at 9:30 am; last year the program fed roughly 720 students a week. After the 2020 flooding in Midland, the congregation started a Furnace Replacement Program for those with financial need; applications are available through the church office and all inquiries are kept confidential.
Every Christmas the church partners with the Salvation Army's Sharing Tree to fill gift requests for children, teens and adults in the community. Each Advent the congregation hosts a Reverse Advent Calendar food drive for The BRIDGE; one recent Christmas Eve more than 100 boxes returned with over 2,400 items inside. A community Christmas Day dinner has traditionally served hundreds of meals to neighbors, with each guest receiving a bag of personal care items.
Two additional partnerships round out the work. The church partners with Gateway Health Care, a Christ-centered health care provider in Midland working to make medical care accessible to everyone in need. Each spring the church and school run a baby-bottle fundraiser for the local LifeClinic, which supports mothers and babies in healthy beginnings. Donations to St. John's can be made online or by mailing a check to the church office.
From Midland to Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Ethiopia
The mission team at St. John's tithes ten percent of the congregation's annual budget to global outreach, with additional yellow-stripe "Missions" offering envelopes and door offerings when visiting missionaries stop by. The Mission Team meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm in Room 3 (except December) and considers both new and continuing partners.
The congregation's current mission partners include POBLO International, which serves Muslim and immigrant communities in the United States (supported since 2013); Lutheran Heritage Foundation, which translates Christian resources into more than ninety languages (supported since before 2014); Pastor Fungchatou Lo, who reaches the Hmong people of southeast Asia (supported since 2016); Stronghold Cambodia in Kampot, where children hear about Jesus in their own heart language (supported since 2014); Pastor Mahlburg, who serves alongside the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sri Lanka (supported since 2015); Pastor Adam Lehman, a church planter in Puerto Rico (supported since 2021); the Concordia Center for the Family in Ethiopia, training congregations in the largest Lutheran church body in the world for family ministry (supported since 2021); Lutheran Hour Ministries, which reaches more than 150 million people in more than 60 countries (supported since before 2013); Orphan Grain Train, a recognized LCMS service organization that ships donated goods to aid, disaster relief and missions worldwide (supported since 2015); and Ashley Lehr, an LCMS outreach specialist based in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico (supported since 2021).