University Hills Lutheran Church has been gathering on a 4.5-acre corner in southeast Denver since the early 1950s, and the building now standing there is the congregation's second sanctuary, dedicated in October 2024. The story of how a 19th-century dairy barn became the first home of this Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation is part of what makes the parish distinctive in the University Hills neighborhood.
From a Dairy Barn to a New Sanctuary
In the early 1950s, Denver's southeastern suburbs were growing quickly, and the Mission Board of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod was looking for land for a new church. The only parcel available was a 4.5-acre plot on what is now the corner of E. Eastman Avenue and S. Dahlia Street, bare except for the old Osner dairy barn, built in 1884. The barn was renovated: a sanctuary went upstairs where the hayloft had been, a fellowship area with classrooms went downstairs, and on September 7, 1952, four hundred and fifty people gathered to dedicate the building and install the first pastor.
The early years were marked by rapid growth. Baptisms, marriages, and confirmation classes filled the calendar, and the first Vacation Bible School hosted two hundred and twenty-two children. In the fall of 1954, the congregation opened a Lutheran grade school with a kindergarten class of twenty-six. A 1968 Denver Lutheran Forum article captured what the renovation had achieved:
A nursery in the old milk cooling room... Sunday school assembly where the stanchions and cows used to be... the congregation gathering for worship in what was once the hayloft... The building is magnificent in its impression of structural strength; and the impression reflects what is really there.
In 1987, marking its thirty-fifth anniversary, the congregation dedicated a multipurpose building that doubled as a sanctuary and a gymnasium for the school. A childcare facility was added in 1992. After fifty-four years of faithful ministry, the school closed in 2007 due to declining enrollment, though the congregation continues to mark Vacation Bible School each year and to support surrounding Lutheran schools.
In 2017, in conjunction with the five hundredth anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, the parish celebrated sixty-five years in ministry. The west side of the property had been sold to the Rise School of Denver, which had been a tenant on the property since 2005. To better serve the current congregation, the parish designed and built a new sanctuary to replace the original barn-converted worship space. During construction, from spring 2019 to fall 2024, the congregation worshipped at a nearby parish, Christ Lutheran Church. On October 6, 2024, the new sanctuary was dedicated to the Lord, and the parish gathered again on its own corner in southeast Denver.
Sunday Worship and the Historic Liturgy
The Divine Service is held each Sunday at 9:00 AM, using the historic liturgy and rich hymns of the Lutheran tradition. The Lord's Supper is celebrated every Sunday. At 10:30 AM, following the service, adult Bible Study and children's Sunday School meet, with Sunday School offered for children ages two through twelve. Confirmation Class is also in session for older youth.
Close(d) Communion
The church observes what it calls close(d) communion, a practice rooted in the conviction that communing together professes agreement in all that the church believes, teaches, and confesses. The Lord's Supper is offered every Sunday, and members of sister congregations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod are encouraged to commune. Visitors who are not members of the LCMS are invited to speak with the pastor if they would like to learn more about the church and its communion practices before participating.
What the Church Believes
The congregation belongs to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Its core beliefs include the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and the teaching that the Bible is God's divinely inspired and inerrant Word. The church confesses that God created all things and made human beings for communion with him and with one another, and that through Adam and Eve all people fell into sin and deserve death.
The church teaches that God sent his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as payment for sin, and that on the third day Jesus rose from the dead. Through his life, death, and resurrection, all who believe in him have eternal life. No one is saved apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God creates faith in human hearts, and through Baptism believers enter into the fellowship of Christ's Body, the holy Christian Church, where they worship God, study his Word, and grow spiritually together in love for God and for one another.
The church also confesses the return of Christ, who will raise the dead, reunite body and soul, renew all creation, and judge people on the basis of faith or unbelief.
Bible Study and Christian Education Through the Week
Christian education is woven through the week. On Sunday mornings at 10:30, after the Divine Service, an adult Bible study is at work on the book of Exodus, and the Sunday School gathers children ages two through twelve.
Wednesday mornings bring a Bible study that meets from 10:00 to 11:30 AM. The group normally meets at the home of Pastor and Ginny Vanderhyde; during Lent, it meets at the church after a 10:00 AM service. Wednesday evenings add another Bible study from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.
A men's Bible study meets from 7:00 to 8:00 AM on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, with locations rotating between a member's home and the church. The Saturday group is currently studying the history and meaning of the Lutheran liturgy, while the second Saturday group works through a study of the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John titled "JESUS."
For younger members, Sunday School and Confirmation Class meet alongside the adult Bible study each Sunday at 10:30. Vacation Bible School is held each year, a continuation of a tradition the congregation began in its earliest years when two hundred and twenty-two children attended the first one.
Pastor David Vanderhyde
The congregation is served by Pastor David Vanderhyde, a graduate of Concordia University, Irvine, where he completed his BA and received a Lutheran Teaching Certificate. He and his wife, Ginny, also a Concordia-trained teacher, were married in 1985. Their first Calls brought them to Denver, where David taught math and computer classes at Denver Lutheran High and Ginny taught kindergarten at University Hills Lutheran School, of which David became principal and middle school teacher in 1992.
In 2009, David enrolled at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Upon graduation, University Hills Lutheran Church issued him a Call once again, this time as pastor, and he was ordained and installed on August 4, 2013. He and Ginny have six children and a growing covey of grandchildren. Guest preachers visit the pulpit from time to time, including Rev. Joe Watson and Rev. Steven Duescher on recent Sundays.
Joining the Congregation on Sundays
The church is located at 4949 E. Eastman Avenue in Denver, in the 80222 ZIP code. Sunday morning begins with the Divine Service at 9:00 AM, followed by Bible Study and Sunday School at 10:30. A sermon archive, a calendar of services and events, and a monthly newsletter called the Epistle are kept current online. Questions before a visit can be directed to the pastor at pastorvanderhyde@uhillslutheran.org or to the church office at (720) 318-2485. The church office can also be reached at churchsecretary@uhillslutheran.org.
The congregation continues to gather weekly with grateful hearts, receiving the Lord's blessings in worship, growing in faith together, and serving the University Hills neighborhood of Denver.