Saint John's Lutheran Church has stood on Second Street in Slatington, Pennsylvania, since 1881, the long-running home of a Lutheran congregation organized in 1868 and grown alongside a Lehigh Valley town shaped by the slate industry. The members' motto, "Living the Gospel on Second Street," captures what the congregation has done for more than a century and a half: gather for traditional Lutheran worship, walk children and youth through every stage of Christian formation, and feed their neighbors through an expanding network of food ministries and outreach.
Living the Gospel on Second Street
The story of Saint John's begins in the spring of 1868, when five or six Lutherans in Slatington discussed starting a Sunday School. They secured an abandoned school house on Church and Fourth Streets, opened the school with eighteen scholars, and within two weeks enrollment had grown to sixty-four. A Bible class organized around the same time by the Rev. J. S. Renninger met in the First Presbyterian Church, and a parallel group led by the Rev. Samuel Leinback of the Reformed Church soon saw the need for a house of worship in the growing community.
On July 17, 1868, a meeting was called to consider erecting a Union Church, and on September 19 of that year the Lutheran congregation was formally organized, a constitution adopted, and a church council elected. The cornerstone for the Union Church was laid on June 27, 1869, and the building was dedicated that Christmas. The Rev. D. K. Kepner was elected as the first pastor and began his duties on May 12, 1871.
In 1880 the Lutheran-Reformed union dissolved, and Mr. and Mrs. David Ross presented the Lutheran congregation with a house and lot on South Second Street. The Rev. Jesse S. Erb, ordained in 1876, moved his family into the house while plans were drawn for a new church on the adjacent lot. Ground was broken in 1881, the cornerstone was laid on July 12 of that year, the basement room was dedicated on November 6, 1881, and the sanctuary was dedicated on December 2, 1883. The building, including furnishings, cost $12,000, and the people of St. John's finished it debt free. Twenty-five-foot transepts were added in 1898 at a cost of $11,000, also fully paid at the time of dedication, and a Moller pipe organ was installed in 1901. The parsonage across the street was purchased during the long tenure of the Rev. Earl Kreidler, who served from 1946 to 1974, and the original Moller pipe organ was replaced during the same era. On June 27, 2021, the Rev. Halle Kluever was elected as the congregation's first female pastor, and the Rev. Trevor J. Hahn was called to serve beginning in 2026.
Worship on Sunday Mornings
Worship at Saint John's follows the ancient Christian pattern of Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending, drawn from the liturgies in the hymnal Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Both Sunday services use traditional Christian liturgy, with organ and piano music and special music from the choir and vocalists throughout the year. The congregation gathers at 8:00 AM and 10:15 AM, and a single 9:00 AM service is held during the summer months. Between services, many adult members gather in the Fellowship Hall to visit.
The 10:15 AM service is livestreamed on the congregation's Facebook page, and recordings are made available on Facebook and YouTube. Weekly worship bulletins and parish emails are shared online, and the weekly parish email is sent on Fridays around noon. The pastor offers a children's message before the readings for any child who wishes to come forward, and coloring pages and crayons are available on the ushers' table inside the sanctuary.
Saint John's practices open communion, inviting baptized Christians of all faithful expressions to come forward to receive the Lord's Supper. The sacrament is understood to be the true body and blood of Christ, instituted by Christ himself for the forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and salvation. Home communion visits are available Tuesday through Friday for those unable to attend worship in person.
Children at Every Stage
Sunday School is the backbone of children's ministry at Saint John's, meeting every week at 9:00 AM for students from preschool through high school. The preschool class welcomes children ages 3 to 5 for singing, play, and activities centered on a Bible story. Kindergarten through third grade uses the Holy Moly curriculum, with engaging video, discussion, crafts, and hands-on activities. Grades 4 through 6 use Connect, with a year of New Testament lessons, while grades 7 through 12 gather for Youth Fellowship, a class that pairs Bible study with service projects, mentoring of younger students, and assistance with special events.
Third graders are invited each February to a three-session Bible Class that introduces the Bible, its history, and the genres of its books. The class culminates in a presentation of personal Bibles to the students during worship. Fifth graders may prepare for First Holy Communion through a two-session class held in the fall, with the first session during the Sunday School hour and the second on a weekday evening, when the students help the pastor prepare the bread for their first communion. First communion is celebrated on Christ the King Sunday.
Throughout the Sunday School year, the Christian Education Committee hosts special events for all students, including a sidewalk chalk contest, a Reformation Day scavenger hunt, an Epiphany event, a birthday social and rock-a-thon, a Lent event, Bible Olympics, and a Palm Sunday parade. The Sunday School Choir rehearses at 9:00 AM and performs at the 10:15 AM service several times a year, including a Christmas Pageant in December and an Easter Pageant in the spring.
Vacation Bible School takes place during the second week of July, Monday through Friday, from 6:00 to 8:30 PM. Open to children from age 3 through grade 6, VBS offers Bible stories, crafts, music, outdoor games, science experiments, snacks, and a closing program on Friday evening. Children in the community are welcome to attend, and church membership is not required.
Youth, Confirmation, and Camp
Confirmation at Saint John's is a two-year journey for middle school students who meet each Sunday from 9:00 to 10:00 AM during the Sunday School hour. The class studies Martin Luther's Small Catechism, Lutheran theology, the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, and church and Reformation history. Students affirm their baptismal promises in a public Affirmation of Baptism in worship, after being interviewed by the Church Council. Each student is expected to attend at least 18 regular worship services and 5 special liturgies, serve as an acolyte, and assist at three church events during the year, including community luncheons, catering dinners, and the Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner.
Bear Creek Camp, a ministry of the Southeastern and Northeastern Pennsylvania Synods of the ELCA, sits on nearly 3,000 acres in the Pocono Mountains and offers summer residential youth camp, nature day camp, environmental education, and weekend retreats. Saint John's encourages all children and youth to attend and provides scholarship codes through the church office, along with first-time, returning, sibling, and need-based discounts.
The youth ministry extends beyond the local congregation as well. Saint John's young people have traveled to the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering in Minneapolis and the 2024 gathering in New Orleans, and the group is preparing to attend the 2027 ELCA Youth Gathering in Minneapolis, June 28 through July 2. In New Orleans, the youth joined evening worship with thousands of other Lutherans, served the local community by recycling oyster shells and planting cypress trees, and explored the city's history, food, and music.
Feeding the Northern Lehigh
Food ministry is woven into the identity of Saint John's. The Breakfast Bunch program returns each summer, running Monday through Friday for ten weeks from June through August, with breakfast served from 8:30 to 10:00 AM and a bag lunch sent home with every child. Open to all children ages 2 through 17 in the Northern Lehigh area, including Slatington, Slatedale, Emerald, and Walnutport, the program has historically served more than thirty children a day. A Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner each spring helps fund the summer's effort.
Free Community Luncheons are offered five times a year on Sunday afternoons from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM, in September, November, January, March, and May. Both dine-in and take-out options are available, and the whole Slatington community is invited. Recent menus have included turkey or roast beef BBQ, chicken Marsala or chicken Parmesan, meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, and roast beef with potato filling.
The Catering Committee hosts several seasonal dinners throughout the year, including Pig Stomach, Pork and Sauerkraut, Ham and Dandelion, Chicken Pot Pie, and New York Strip Steak dinners, as well as the church picnic and monthly soup and sandwich sales. The committee also caters outside events, from birthday and anniversary parties to funeral lunches and organizational meetings.
Saint John's supports the Northern Lehigh Food Bank, founded in 1987 and located in Emerald, Pennsylvania, by collecting cereal, canned tomatoes, jelly, pasta, soup, spaghetti sauce, and tuna on an ongoing basis, along with school supplies each spring, instant mashed potatoes for the food bank's Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas baskets, summer food packs for children, and Christmas gifts for children in need. Members of the congregation also serve as volunteers to unload trucks on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
The Second Chance Shoppe
At 578 Main Street in Slatington, the Second Chance Shoppe is a nonprofit thrift store operated by Saint John's volunteers. The Shoppe offers quality used clothing, household goods, toys, and seasonal decorations at affordable prices, with all proceeds going to support Saint John's Lutheran Church and other community organizations. The store is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, with Mondays reserved for cleaning and restocking. Donations are most needed in children's clothing of all sizes and genders.
The Shoppe has supported Saint John's Lutheran Church, the Sunday School, the Epiphany Project, Bear Creek Camp scholarships for Saint John's youth, the Children's Christmas Gift Program at Friedens UCC, Lutheran Disaster Response, the Northern Lehigh Historical Society, the Slatington Public Library, the Slatington Volunteer Fire Company, Northern Valley EMS, and many other local causes. Pastors often send families in need, including those who have experienced a fire or other catastrophe, to the Shoppe for help. Volunteers are always welcome to help operate the store during business hours.
Music Ministry
The Senior Choir sees its music ministry as a partnership in the Gospel, leading worship, responding to the proclaimed Word, and presenting a Christmas Cantata every year. Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM in the choir room, and new members are always welcome. The choir sings during Sunday worship and offers special music throughout the liturgical year, while Fawn Albert serves as Organist and Choir Director.
Weddings, Funerals, and Baptisms
Saint John's hosts weddings for couples who wish to be married in the sanctuary, with the pastor leading premarital counseling. Couples meet the pastor for an intake session, complete a Prepare/Enrich relationship assessment, and attend four premarital sessions before the wedding. The wedding planning worksheet and policies and guidelines are available from the church office, and couples are asked to contact the pastor to discuss their plans.
Funerals are held in the sanctuary whenever possible, though caskets cannot be carried into the second-floor sanctuary due to the building's structure, and visitations take place in the first-floor Fellowship Hall. The casket may be placed in the narthex or remain in the Fellowship Hall during the service. The pastor can also commend the dying, anoint them with chrism, and gather with loved ones for prayer, remembrance, and reflection.
Baptism is offered to infants, children, and adults, with parents and sponsors receiving instruction when young children are baptized, and older children and adults entering a catechumenate process before their baptism. The sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion are at the center of the congregation's life and teaching.
A Network of Faith and Mission
Saint John's is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which traces its roots through the mid-seventeenth century, when early Lutherans came to America from Europe, and which was formed in 1988 through the merger of three Lutheran bodies. The congregation belongs to the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, one of more than 250 congregations in a region that also includes three Synod-Authorized Worshipping Communities, nine mission districts, and more than 119,000 people. Within the synod, Saint John's is part of the Northern Lehigh Mission District alongside other Lehigh and Northampton County congregations.
The congregation has built global relationships through the ELCA's companion synod and companion church programs. Saint John's is a partner congregation with the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin and shares companion church ties with the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania's South-Central Diocese, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony's Loebau-Zittau Parish, and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina and Uruguay.
Spiritual Practices and Daily Faith
The congregation provides a wide range of resources for daily spiritual life. Recommended devotionals include Daily Grace from Women of the ELCA, daily devotions by Henri Nouwen, and the ELCA's daily Bible readings. Other resources include a 40-day prayer guide, a daily prayers and blessings collection, a printable prayer labyrinth guide, Stations of the Cross, the Dwell family faith resource, and the Praying in Color method of visual prayer. Mobile apps recommended by the church include Bible, Daily Prayer, Lectio 365, Pray As You Go, Sacred Space, and the Small Catechism.
Getting Involved
Members and friends of Saint John's serve on a number of committees, including the Church Council, Finance Committee, Property Team, Christian Education Committee, Youth Ministry Committee, Worship and Music Committee, Altar Guild, Breakfast Bunch Committee, Catering Committee, Community Luncheon Committee, Congregational Care Team, Social Ministry Committee, Sewing Group, and W.I.S.H. Circle (Women Involved in Sharing and Helping). Children and youth can serve in worship as greeters, bell ringers, lectors, acolytes, crucifers, communion assistants, camera operators, and junior ushers. The Senior Choir welcomes new voices at its Wednesday evening rehearsals, and the Best/Sell and Ringer Scholarship funds support youth pursuing higher education.
The W.I.S.H. Circle hosts the annual Basket Social and Graduation Dinner, the Sewing Group meets the first two Fridays of each month to make quilts and lap robes for Lutheran World Relief and other nonprofits, and the Social Ministry Committee puts together holiday baskets for homebound members.
Visiting Saint John's
Saint John's Lutheran Church is located at 40 Second Street in Slatington, one block east of Main Street and the downtown shops. The church office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and the building's north entrance near the church office is ADA accessible for the first floor, where the Fellowship Hall and restrooms are located. A chairlift in the rear stairwell provides access to the second floor for those who cannot manage the stairs. Two parking lots are located on the south side of the church, with entrances on Second Street, and additional parking is available in the alley next to the parsonage on Sunday mornings from 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
The Rev. Trevor J. Hahn, known as Pastor Trevor, serves as Interim Pastor. A native of Hellertown, Pennsylvania, and a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, he is married to Kathryne, with three adult children, Aidan, Julian, and Sadie. The congregation's phone number is (610) 767-6361, and the office is happy to help with questions about worship, Christian education, weddings, funerals, baptisms, or getting involved.