St. Thomas Lutheran Church sits on Kelly Road in Eastpointe, a small city on Detroit's northeastern border, where a sea shell shaped sanctuary has anchored a Lutheran congregation for more than a century. Known today as much for its food pantry, clothing closet, preschool, and twelve-step recovery meetings as for its Sunday worship, the church grew out of three separate Detroit congregations that merged and moved east in the 1950s. The congregation's mission is straightforward: to bring people closer to Jesus and to one another, and the building at 23801 Kelly Road has become a ministry hub for the entire neighborhood.
Three Detroit Congregations, One Eastpointe Church
The story of St. Thomas Lutheran begins in 1879, when twenty-four households organized St. Peter Lutheran Church at Chene and Pierce in Detroit. Almost three decades later, in 1908, a second group formed St. Thomas at Fisher and Chapin on Detroit's east side, also with a modest fifteen members. Both congregations grew through the early twentieth century and both watched their city neighborhoods change as members moved to the suburbs. In 1945 St. Peter merged with St. Thomas on Fisher and Chapin to form a single congregation called St. Thomas and St. Peter Lutheran Church. Eleven years later, in 1956, Bethel Lutheran Church - organized in 1888 on Dubois Street in Detroit - joined the merged body as well.
By the late 1950s the leadership had decided to relocate. A new site was purchased in what was then called East Detroit, and the new building was dedicated in the fall of 1959. For nearly a decade the congregation held Sunday services at both the Detroit site and the new Eastpointe site, but in 1968 the Fisher location was closed, its property sold, and the name shortened to St. Thomas Lutheran Church. That same year East Detroit was officially renamed Eastpointe.
A Sanctuary in the Shape of a Sea Shell
The present sanctuary was built in 1976, designed in a distinctive sea shell shape that is both symbolic and practical. Many congregations built in the years that followed adopted similar curves.
A major expansion came in 2000. The east wing added administrative offices, a food pantry, and a clothing closet, while the southern end of the building was converted into a new home for the preschool. The same project also expanded the sanctuary itself. The result is a building that now houses worship, classrooms, outreach ministries, a preschool, and a wellness center under one roof.
Biblical Faith in the Lutheran Tradition
The congregation confesses the historic Christian faith expressed in the Apostles' Creed: belief in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; in Jesus Christ, His only Son, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, descended into hell, and rose again the third day; in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. St. Thomas is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
The church's mission statement, written by Pastor Dietrick Gladden, describes St. Thomas as a welcoming congregation grounded in biblical principles whose faith is not just something to be professed but lived out in so many ways. Gladden writes that the congregation's strength lies in its diversity of talents and commitment to God's work, and that the building on Kelly Road serves as a ministry hub for the entire community.
Pastor Gladden also publishes a weekly devotional called Thursday's Thirst, sent out by email to keep the congregation connected between Sundays.
The Flock, CrossTraining, and Faith Hope Love
St. Thomas Lutheran takes seriously the formation of its youngest members.
For children the church offers a Sunday school program called The Flock, with classes divided by age from three-year-olds through fifth grade. Children gather on Sundays at 11:30 a.m., following the morning worship service. The program blends in-person instruction with locally produced interactive videos that families can use at home any time of week. Tony Berkseth, who leads the children's ministry, says the goal is straightforward: having been raised by Christian educators and attending Lutheran grade school and university, he knows the value of Christian education, and that is what this experience is all about.
For teens in grades six through twelve, CrossTraining, JC Style, meets Sunday mornings at 10:45 a.m. in Room 102. The program pairs open discussion with multi-media faith lessons, with rectangular tables arranged for conversation. The church encourages teens not just working toward confirmation to attend; high schoolers are invited to join, and their input is welcomed as a blessing to the younger students. Teens enter through the front church entrance and turn left to find the room.
For adults seeking spiritual growth beyond Sunday morning, the Faith Hope Love (FHL) small-group ministry offers a range of gatherings throughout the week. Sunday Gospel Talks meet at 10:45 a.m. in the Conference Room, hosted by Deacon Don Cooley. Other FHL groups include a Monday evening multi-generational gathering in Clinton Township, a Wednesday morning men's group in the Fireside Lounge hosted by Mike Dolan, a Thursday morning multi-generational study in Room 101 hosted by Pastor Gladden, and a Saturday morning group in the Fireside Lounge hosted by Steve Northcott. Specialized women's studies within FHL include 2 Peter, hosted by Elizabeth Kruse, and Bible Women Speak, hosted by Deliah Greve.
Music in the Sanctuary
Music has long been central to worship at St. Thomas, and the music ministry offers several ways to participate.
The Kapelle is the main choir. It rehearses on the first, third, fourth, and (when there is one) fifth Sunday of each month at 8:15 a.m. in the music room and sings all styles of Christian choral music. The choir leads festival services throughout the church year, including Reformation Sunday, Remembrance Sunday, Lessons and Carols, Christmas Eve, Transfiguration Sunday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday Tenebrae, and Easter Sunday.
Celebration Singers is a smaller mixed-voice choir that meets only on the second Sunday of each month at 8:15 a.m. and focuses on modern Christian music. It is designed for those who love to sing but are not ready for weekly rehearsals.
Instrumentalists can serve by playing during communion, as a voluntary, accompanying hymns, or accompanying the choirs. Vocal solo and small ensemble opportunities are also available. The Ladies' Ensemble, open to female members and prospective members from ninth grade and older, sings music specifically composed for women's voices.
The Handbell Choir rehearses on Thursday evenings at 7 and adds the sound of bells to worship throughout the year.
Feeding the Neighborhood
The 2000 building expansion turned part of St. Thomas into a small ministry hub, and the congregation's outreach has grown from there.
The food pantry is open one Saturday each month. The clothing closet, located in the east wing, opens to the community on the third Saturday of each month from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., or earlier if supplies run out. Several times a year the church hosts Soup and Sandwich Saturdays (S.A.S.S.), gathering volunteers to provide a hot meal.
The congregation also has close ties with a number of community organizations. Life Builders, MCREST, Camp Restore Detroit, and Champion Force Athletics all share the building for special programs and events. Giving is supported through online giving, traditional offering envelopes, and the Kroger Community Rewards program, where shoppers can direct a portion of their purchases to the church.
Recovery and Wellness on Campus
The church makes its space available to several twelve-step and recovery fellowships.
Alcoholics Anonymous meets at St. Thomas on Monday and Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Al-Anon, a fellowship for friends and families of problem drinkers, also meets Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Visitors to these meetings are asked to park in the rear lot and enter through the southwest entrance. Narcotics Anonymous meets Sundays from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. and is open to addicts and non-addicts alike.
Since April 2019 the south end of the building has been home to an Ascension St. John Wellness Center, which offers wellness counseling and activities to the community four days each week.
Men, Women, and the Older Wiser Lutherans
Beyond the FHL small groups, several other ministries serve adults of all stages of life.
Men gather for study and service on Wednesday mornings at 6:30 a.m. in the Fireside Lounge under the facilitation of Mike Dolan, and again on Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m. with Steve Northcott. The Wednesday Crew also meets at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, fixing things around the building between coffee and donuts.
Women's ministries include H.I.S. II (Hearts In Study of God's Word, Hands In Service), a women's Bible study and service group that meets once a month, except in July and August, on the fourth Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Fireside Lounge. The Altar Guild assists the pastors in preparing the chancel for worship, caring for communion ware, paraments, linens, and altar flowers. Volunteers also cook, serve, and provide desserts for funeral luncheons held after services at the church.
The O.W.L.S. (Older, Wiser, Lutherans) ministry serves members and friends aged 50 and older, meeting on the second Wednesday of each month at 11:00 a.m. from September through May.
Faith Connection and the GSRP Preschool
For those wanting a deeper dive into Christian teaching, the church hosts the Faith Connection series of workshops and retreats. Faith Connection ONE is a day-long dialogue on the basics of the Christian faith, beginning with the question What does it mean to believe? Faith Connection TWO, called Faith Ablaze 360, focuses on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Faith Connection PLUS is a half-day prayer retreat held in the Fireside Lounge twice each year.
The preschool on the south end of the building reopened in November 2017 as a Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP), a free state-funded preschool for four-year-olds regardless of family income. It operates as a joint initiative with CrossBridge Action Network and the Michigan District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The program is licensed by the State of Michigan and offers a hands-on, developmentally appropriate curriculum with daily Jesus time, parent-teacher conferences, and field trips.
The building has long served as a place of education. The congregation operated a Christian day school for 129 years before closing it in June 2015, with the preschool following a year later. The preschool's reopening as a GSRP site has restored the building's role as a place where young children learn.
Worship Online and a Long Memory
Worship services are livestreamed through Facebook Live, with bulletins posted weekly and an archive going back many years. A children's video series called The Flock offers online Sunday school lessons for families to use at home.
The congregation's oldest records, preserved in scanned form, trace weddings, baptisms, funerals, deaths, and confirmations back to the 1870s and 1880s, a reminder that St. Thomas Lutheran Church has been gathering people in this part of southeastern Michigan for almost a century and a half, first in Detroit and now in Eastpointe.