A Woodland Congregation Rooted in 1912
St. Paul's Lutheran Church has stood at 625 West Gibson Road in Woodland, California, since 1912. For more than a century, generations of families have gathered here to hear the Word, receive the Sacraments, and serve their neighbors. The congregation's mission statement frames everything it does: "Proclaim Christ, Make Disciples, Serve the Lord." St. Paul's is affiliated with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
Sunday Morning Worship at 10:30
Sunday worship begins at 10:30 AM and follows the historic order of the Divine Service, the shape of worship Christians have shared since the early church. The liturgy is rooted in Scripture and centered on Jesus Christ and His saving grace on the cross. St. Paul's uses a blend of older and newer liturgies, and its music runs from classic hymns to modern songs chosen for doctrinal depth and theological weight. The order emphasizes that worship is not what we give to God but what we receive from Him: His free gift of grace, His Word, and His Sacraments, with prayer and praise as our response.
Holy Communion is celebrated on the first and third Sundays of each month. St. Paul's teaches, with Lutherans broadly, that Christ's body and blood are truly present in the bread and wine. The church invites to the altar anyone who comes in true repentance with faith in Christ's words, "given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."
Children and Youth
Children are a steady presence on Sunday mornings. Children's Sunday School meets during the worship service every Sunday except the fifth Sunday of the month, with children ages 3 through fifth grade dismissed right before the sermon for a mixed-age class in the Fellowship Hall. Older students help younger ones, building a small community of their own.
Confirmation is offered to students in grades 6 through 8 on Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 7 PM during the school year. The class is a guided study of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions, led by the pastor.
SPK Night is the church's midweek program for children ages 7 through 11, gathering on Thursdays from 5:30 to 7 PM for snacks, games, and Bible study.
Teens in grades 6 through 12 are invited to gather with other Lutheran youth from the Sacramento area on the third Saturday of each month from 4 to 6 PM at Faith Lutheran Church in Fair Oaks.
Vacation Bible School returns each summer as a half-day program for kids entering kindergarten through sixth grade, with adult, high school, and middle school volunteers serving as leaders.
Bible Studies Through the Week
Three Bible studies meet during the week, each with its own tone:
- Adult Bible Study meets Sunday mornings at 9:15 AM in the Fellowship Hall, working through topics chosen by the group. Recent material has included the LCMS study Every One His Witness, covering the basics of evangelism and Christian outreach.
- Word Ahead meets Mondays at 9:30 AM in Room 1. The pastor leads a discussion of the upcoming Sunday's readings, covering themes, content, and background.
- Women's Bible Study meets Wednesdays at 10:30 AM in Room 1, also taught by the pastor. Topics rotate and have included women in the church, other religions, baptism, angels, temptation, anger, and specific books of the Bible.
Each study welcomes newcomers, and no prior Bible background is needed.
The Preschool and Daycare on Site
St. Paul's Lutheran Preschool & Daycare is one of the church's main outlets for service to the wider Woodland community. Serving children ages 2 through 5, the program is open Monday through Friday from 7 AM to 5:45 PM. The school's mission is to reach out to children and families with God's love and grace, helping them grow spiritually, intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially in a Christ-centered environment prepared for kindergarten.
Two classes make up the program. The Bright Stars class focuses on social-emotional, cognitive, and physical development through play-based learning and structured activities. The Sonshiners Pre-K class builds foundational literacy and numeracy, social interaction, motor skills, and creativity, while introducing science concepts. Across both classes, children engage with literacy, science, math, art, music, Spanish, cooking, and gardening.
Jill Hardin has served as the preschool's director and administrator since 2016. She also oversees youth, family, and women's ministry for the church. The teaching team includes Ms. Ruthie, who holds a B.A. in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from the University of Hawaii and teaches music at the school; Ms. Alyssa, who brings twelve years of Christian preschool teaching and a background in child development and early intervention; and Mr. James Rowland, who has been teaching preschool since 1998 and holds a B.S. in Psychology.
Financial aid is available through partner agencies, including the Children's Home Society of California's Child Care Payment Program and the Yolo County Children's Alliance CalWORKs Child Care Subsidy Program.
Mercy Holistic Ministry
St. Paul's partners with Mercy Holistic Ministry, a Sacramento-area nonprofit that brings care to people experiencing homelessness. Founded in 2008 by the Rev. Berhanu Kumalo and his wife Miheret Abebe, Mercy Holistic Ministry provides mobile hot showers, clothing, haircuts, food, hygiene kits, and social work services to the unhoused community in and around Sacramento, offering dignity and the love of Christ alongside practical help.
Berhanu, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Bible and Theology from Addis Ababa Bible College and an LCMS ordination certificate from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, is commissioned as a missionary-at-large through St. Paul's. He also served as a church leader in the United Arab Emirates for four years before moving to Sacramento in 2007.
What St. Paul's Believes
St. Paul's is a confessional Lutheran congregation that holds to the Reformation's three solas:
- Grace alone. God loves the world even though people are sinful and rebel against Him. He sent Jesus to love the unlovable and save the ungodly.
- Scripture alone. The Bible is God's inerrant, infallible Word, revealing His Law and His Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ, and the only rule and norm for Christian doctrine.
- Faith alone. By His suffering and death as the substitute for all people, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life it offers.
The Ministry Team
Pastor David Hardin has served St. Paul's since 2013. A native of Orange, California, he holds a B.A. in Art and a Director of Christian Education Certification from Concordia University, Nebraska, and completed his theological studies at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He and his wife Jill have three children: Matthew, Christian, and Grayce.
Jill Hardin directs the preschool, oversees youth and family ministry, and leads women's ministry. A Jefferson City, Missouri native, she earned her B.A. in Theology from Concordia University, Nebraska.
The Rev. Berhanu Kumalo serves as a missionary-at-large, working with homeless and immigrant populations throughout the Sacramento area and supporting Mercy Holistic Ministry.
The Church Year
St. Paul's observes the seasons of the Christian year. Ash Wednesday includes services at noon and 6:30 PM. Lenten Wednesdays feature a dinner at 6 PM followed by a 6:30 PM devotion. Holy Week brings Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. The preschool children sing during one of the services leading into Holy Week. Advent is marked with midweek December services, and the Christmas season closes out with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, including a Christmas Eve candlelight service.
Visiting St. Paul's
The church's Sunday morning is its main gathering. Worship is at 10:30 AM, preceded by Bible study for adults at 9:15 AM. Each service is livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, with recordings available afterward. Visitors looking to introduce themselves are invited to fill out an online connection card.
The church office is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 AM to 3 PM and can be reached at (530) 662-1935 or by email. Online giving is available through the church's donation page. The address is 625 W. Gibson Rd., Woodland, CA 95695.