On 51st Street just north of College Avenue, in the historic village of Greendale, St. Stephen the Martyr Lutheran Church has served the south side of the Milwaukee metro for more than six decades. Affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the congregation is known for a robust music program anchored by a 23-rank Casavant pipe organ, weekly Holy Communion, and a written welcome that openly affirms people of every age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, ability, and economic circumstance. Members of all ages gather on Sundays for worship, Sunday School, and fellowship, and the building and its Prayer Garden host everything from a handbell choir rehearsal to a yearly Blessing of the Animals.
Sunday Worship and the Rhythm of the Weekend
The principal weekly gathering is Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m. in the sanctuary. Six orders of worship rotate through the year, so regular worshipers experience a changing rhythm of liturgy paired with the same lectionary readings and a sermon from the pastor. Holy Communion is celebrated at every regular service, and all who have been baptized are welcome to receive it. Ushers bring the bread and wine to the altar, and grape juice and gluten-free wafers are available for those who need them. If a worshipper cannot come to the front, the ushers will bring communion to them.
From September through May, a Saturday service at 5:00 p.m. gives worshipers a second weekend option. During the summer months the Saturday service is set aside in favor of an outdoor Prayer Garden service on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. Seating in the garden is limited, so attendees are encouraged to bring their own chair, and the gathering moves indoors if the weather does not cooperate.
Most Sunday services include a brief Children's Sermon before the children move to Sunday School for the remainder of the liturgy. Worship bulletins are available in large print on request, and the church describes itself as mask-friendly for anyone who chooses to wear one.
Music: A Twenty-Three Rank Casavant and a Choir for Every Age
Music is woven into nearly every service at St. Stephen the Martyr. The instrument at the center of it all is a Casavant Frères Ltée Opus 3324, a twenty-three rank pipe organ originally installed in 1976 at Norwood Park Lutheran Church in Chicago. When that parish closed in 2018, the congregation had the opportunity to acquire and move it to Greendale, where the Chicago organ builders Ericksen, Christian & Associates installed it with significant improvements, including a solid-state control system, re-leathered pedal chests, and a wheeled platform that makes the console movable. Work began in March 2020, just as the pandemic halted in-person worship, which allowed the builders to lay out pipes, cabinets, and wiring throughout the sanctuary with no services in the way. The organ was completed in September 2020.
The Music Director and principal organist is Tabitha Moldenhauer, an organist, choral director, and educator who also serves as Program Director for the Chicago International Organ Academy. She directs the choir and handbell programs. Mark Breutzmann plays the organ for the Saturday service and also serves as Chair of the Worship/Music Committee. He is Music Director of Emanuel Church in Hales Corners and a member of the American Guild of Organists-Milwaukee Chapter.
The adult choir sings most Sundays at the 9:30 service from September through May, rehearsing Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. A handbell choir plays at least monthly and rehearses Wednesdays at 5:45 p.m. A chime choir for older elementary and middle school students rehearses and performs periodically, and the Sunday School children rehearse during class time and sing in worship about once a month, with an annual Christmas pageant that takes over one of the late-December services. Soloists and ensembles are always welcome to round out the music of any given Sunday.
A History in the Village of Greendale
St. Stephen the Martyr traces its roots to 1964, when the LCA Board of Missions called Rev. Joseph Lewandowski to organize a new congregation on Milwaukee's south side. The first worship service was held in the basement of Tri-City National Bank. On Palm Sunday, April 3, 1965, the congregation was officially organized with 71 adults and 63 children. Ground was broken for a church building near 51st and College Avenue in 1966, and the building was dedicated in 1967. A new pipe organ was dedicated on Reformation Sunday in 1968.
The congregation's character took shape in those early years. By 1970 it had joined six area congregations to form H.O.L.I.E., a Housing for Low Income Elderly Organization, and by 1973 it had become self-supporting. A mission statement adopted in 1980, "We come together in Word and Sacrament that we might go to Live and serve in the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord," still frames the life of the church. In the early 1980s the congregation sponsored Laotian refugee families, and in 1991 a Saturday night service at 5 p.m. was introduced. The mortgage was paid off four years early in 1992 through special offerings.
Pastor Lewandowski retired in 1994 after thirty years of ministry, and the next year Pastor Charles Brummond accepted the call. In 1996 the congregation voted to proceed with a building proposal; construction began in June 1998 and the addition was dedicated that November. Pastor Gail Brodersen-Heins began her ministry in 2001 and retired in 2013, with Pastor Suellen Myers serving as interim before Pastor Brian Hooper accepted the call in 2014. That same year the church received a new carport and canopy. The Prayer Garden was completed in 2015, the congregation's fiftieth anniversary year. In March 2020 the church began offering online worship on Zoom when the pandemic closed its doors, a practice that continues alongside in-person gatherings.
Children, Youth, and Family Life
On Sundays from September through May, children begin in the sanctuary and then move to Sunday School following the Children's Sermon. Classes are grouped into K4 and K5, first through third grade, fourth through sixth grade, and confirmation in seventh and eighth grades. The curriculum is designed to coordinate with the lessons preached in worship, and a recurring emphasis on service runs through both instruction and activity. Sunday School Superintendent Billie Jo Kuneth oversees the program, and registration is handled through downloadable forms.
Vacation Bible School transforms the sanctuary into a learning destination each summer. The Youth and Family Ministry team, in partnership with parents, follows the 5-4-3 model of Vibrant Faith Ministries for cross-generational ministry: five principles for living and passing on faith, four keys for practicing faith (caring conversations, devotions, service, and rituals and traditions), and three characteristics of Christians (authentic, available, and affirming). Throughout the year, families gather for trunk-or-treat, an Easter egg hunt, an Advent family event, bonfire nights, bowling, baseball games, and other fellowship outings.
Youth also participate in service projects, from packing lunches for the Milwaukee Street Angels and caroling at senior residences to raising food for a local community center, packing school supply bags, and making Valentine cards for congregation members. A mission trip sends youth to serve in a community away from home. Through a partnership with Unity Lutheran Church, college-bound students can apply for educational scholarships by writing a short essay on how they have grown in discipleship and leadership.
Adult Education and Bible Study
Three ongoing Bible studies give adults several weekly touchpoints. The Women's Bible Study meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 10:15 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall, year-round except December, with coffee, conversation, and study. The Men's Bible Study gathers on the first and third Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. A Monthly Monday Bible Study meets on the first Monday of each month at 1:00 p.m. in the narthex by the fireplace. Shepherd's Corner Library, located in the Fellowship Hall, lends fiction, biography, research, devotions, and inspiration for adults, along with books and DVDs for toddlers through teens, available year-round during services and open office hours.
Human Concerns and Outreach
The Human Concerns Committee coordinates much of the congregation's work beyond its walls. Each year the Women of the ELCA's Piecemakers Quilting Group, which meets on the third Monday of each month and welcomes anyone willing to learn, makes more than one hundred quilts that are sent to Lutheran World Relief. The whole congregation helps fill school bags and kits for Lutheran World Relief, with the Sunday School children typically doing the filling.
Christmas gift collections benefit children and seniors at the Bay View Community Center, and a holiday sock and underwear drive supports Unity Lutheran Church and Divine Intervention/Tippecanoe, which provides items for the homeless. Food collected at the church is donated to local pantries including the Bay View Community Center and Unity Lutheran Church, and members regularly help serve a monthly CommUnity meal at Unity with two other congregations on the third Wednesday of each month. Volunteers also help keep the Warming Room at Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church running during cold-weather months.
The congregation participates in the Greater Milwaukee Synod's Outreach for Hope Ride-Run-Walk, an annual fundraiser that supports ministries serving low-income communities across the synod. Members choose one of four locations around the Milwaukee area to walk, run, or bike, then gather for a family picnic.
A Partnership in Tanzania and Fair Trade Coffee
St. Stephen the Martyr is one of many Greater Milwaukee Synod congregations partnered with Mbaaseny Parish in the Meru Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. The relationship includes shared prayers, visits, and monetary support from the congregation, including a secondary school scholarship fund for Mbaaseny. Members serve on the Greater Milwaukee Synod's Meru Partnership Committee.
The Mt. Meru Coffee Project grew out of that same partnership. In 1999 a Tanzanian coffee farmer on the slopes of Mount Meru asked a visiting Milwaukee pastor, "We grow coffee; you drink coffee; would you buy your coffee from us?" The Project began selling coffee within Greater Milwaukee Synod congregations in 2002 and now offers Hazelnut, Butter Pecan, French Vanilla, and Chocolate Raspberry flavors in regular or decaf. Coffee is roasted in small batches by Imperial Coffee Roasters in Milwaukee and is sold year-round at a display in the narthex at St. Stephen the Martyr, online, and through other congregations around the country.
The Prayer Garden, Fellowship, and Special Events
The Prayer Garden, begun in 2009 and completed in 2015, has become a defining outdoor space at the church. It hosts the summer Thursday worship services, Reformation and Rally Day gatherings, and a yearly Blessing of the Animals service in early October, when dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, and other pets receive a blessing and members of the wider community are invited to join. The garden also anchors the Easter egg hunt and other family fellowship events.
Inside, a Sunday morning coffee and fellowship hour follows worship, with Lenten soup suppers, an Easter breakfast, a Reformation potluck in October, a Rally Day "indoor" picnic to launch the Sunday School year, and a fall community rummage sale that draws neighbors from across Greendale. A greeting card ministry called the Son Shine Committee keeps members connected, and a Care-Giving Ministry visits shut-ins and hospitalized members. Twice a month on the second Wednesday, the Loose Ends group, an offshoot of the Women of the ELCA, gathers at a restaurant for lunch and service projects.
An Open and Affirming Welcome
The church's Welcome Statement makes the congregation's posture plain. "St. Stephen the Martyr Lutheran Church is a spiritual community grounded in the belief of Welcoming all, Worshiping God, Serving others." It goes on to commit the congregation to racial equity and to affirming the participation of all people, including those who have historically experienced rejection in congregational life.
In January 2025 the congregation voted to become a Reconciling in Christ congregation through Reconciling Works, a designation recognizing Lutheran congregations that welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and that commit to anti-racist work. The RIC journey at the church had begun years earlier and was relaunched after the pandemic; the team's work culminated in the 2025 vote.
Becoming a Member
New members are received several times a year during the 9:30 Sunday service, followed by a cake and coffee reception in the Fellowship Hall. Each new member receives a gift bag with information about the church and its ministries. Those exploring membership from another tradition are invited to attend special classes, and an orientation is offered for everyone who wishes to join. The pastor is also glad to meet with prospective members one-on-one.
First-Time Visitors
Plenty of parking is available in the upper and lower lots, with handicap parking in the upper lot and wheelchair accessibility from that level. Greeters welcome visitors at the door, and coat racks are located just off the narthex. There is no required dress, and worshipers arrive in everything from suits and dresses to t-shirts and jeans. Visitors are not expected to put anything in the offering plate, and the bulletin handed out at the door walks through every part of the service. To listen in from home, services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, and the office can share a Zoom link for joining live on Sunday mornings.
Giving and Stewardship
St. Stephen the Martyr offers two electronic giving options for members who prefer not to write checks: Simply Giving, which schedules automatic donations from a checking or savings account, and the Vanco Mobile Faith Engagement app, which allows one-time or recurring gifts and payments from a smartphone. Paper bulletins include offering envelopes, and a Memorial Committee oversees designated and undesignated gifts in memory of loved ones, funding both church purchases and benevolence. A significant portion of offerings is shared with other churches and organizations in the synod's shared witness.
Staff and Leadership
Pastor Brian Hooper has served the congregation since 2014. An ELCA pastor ordained in 2004, he holds a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and an undergraduate degree from Augustana College in Rock Island. He previously served congregations in Le Sueur, Minnesota, and New Berlin, Wisconsin. His wife Maren is also an ordained minister, and they have two children, Norah and Ben. Tabitha Moldenhauer serves as Music Director, Choir Director, and Organist. Mark Breutzmann is Saturday Organist. Bonnie Zimmermann serves as Ministry Assistant. Jim Hennessy has been in charge of building maintenance since 2019.
The Wider Connections
St. Stephen the Martyr is part of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The church sits in the same synod network that supports Outreach for Hope, the Mt. Meru Coffee Project, and the Meru Partnership with the Diocese of Meru in Tanzania, and it partners with Unity Lutheran Church, Faith Santa Fe, and the Bay View Community Center on local ministry. The church's mobile app, available through the Apple App Store and Google Play, carries the church directory, calendar, and giving options for members on the go.