A Stewartville Congregation Built on Music, Milestones, and the Wider Community
Zion Lutheran Church sits at 400 5th Avenue NE in Stewartville, Minnesota, a town in Olmsted County. The congregation belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, and its mission - inviting, nurturing, serving, and sending so that all may know Jesus Christ - is printed across its communications. Pastors Timothy and Allyson Bowman have co-led the parish since October 2021, and around them a sizable staff and volunteer team keep the church's two Sunday services, weekday programs, and community ministries running every week of the year.
What sets Zion apart, beyond the size of its ministry roster, is the way it weaves worship and formation into the rhythms of family life. There is a children's sermon in both services. Sunday School is held between services. A third-grader can receive a Bible of their own through the Exploring the Faith program, a fifth-grader can design a stole for their First Communion milestone, and a seventh-grader can begin Confirmation on Wednesday nights. Add in a parish nurse, a Little Free Pantry at the church entrance, and a disaster recovery trailer that has rolled out to Mississippi, Iowa, Texas, and beyond, and Zion emerges as a parish that takes its call to "serve" just as seriously as its call to gather for worship.
Worship: One Sanctuary, Two Sunday Styles
During the school year, Zion offers two Sunday services:
- 8 AM Traditional Worship with Organ (and piano), featuring hymns, a children's message, and Holy Communion.
- 10 AM Contemporary Worship with Wellspring, led by the in-house Wellspring music team, with a children's message, communion, and small percussion instruments that children are invited to play during the final song.
Both services run about 60 to 70 minutes. Song lyrics, prayers, and lessons are projected on screens so newcomers can follow along without flipping through a hymnal. Between the two services, from 9 AM to roughly 9:50 AM, the parish hosts Coffee and Calories fellowship along with Sunday School for ages 3 through grade 4. When Memorial Day weekend arrives, the schedule simplifies to a single 9 AM Traditional service with 10 AM fellowship; the contemporary Wellspring service and Sunday School pause for the summer.
Communion is celebrated at both services. The congregation's practice is notably welcoming: the table is open to everyone, members and visitors alike, Lutheran or not. Those who prefer to remain seated during communion are invited to do so without explanation. Worship is also livestreamed on YouTube through the Zion Lutheran Stewartville channel, and a livestream archive allows members to catch up on services they missed. Anyone who wants a weekly text reminder of the upcoming service's theme can sign up through the church's Remind group.
Children and the Milestones of Growing Up Lutheran
Children are woven into worship at Zion rather than separated from it. Both services include a children's message, and the 10 AM service invites kids to bring coins forward for the "noisy offering," dropping them into a metal bowl that makes a satisfying clatter - a small tradition that gives young worshippers a recurring job in the liturgy.
The formal formation program begins with Sunday School for children ages 3 through grade 4, held between services during the school year. Wendy Weber, who has been on staff since November 2009 and a baptized member of Zion for life, coordinates Sunday School and welcomes visiting families personally. Children in grades 5 and 6 move up to Club 56, a Wednesday-evening program that runs September through May and bridges the gap between Sunday School and Confirmation. Each spring, Vacation Bible School welcomes children who are potty trained and three years old by June 1 through those who have just finished fourth grade; the 2026 program centered on Paul and the Underground Church in Rome.
The Exploring the Faith series treats important faith milestones as family events. Second graders and parents learn about prayer together. Third graders and parents spend three Wednesday evenings learning how to navigate the Bible, after which the child is presented with a Bible of their own in front of the congregation. Fourth graders and parents meet with Pastor Tim in the sanctuary to explore what baptism means for daily life. Fifth graders and parents attend three sessions preparing them for First Communion, including the historical roots of the sacrament in the Passover and the Last Supper; on Communion Milestone Sunday, each child wears a stole they designed themselves. Zion also points families toward Good Earth Village, a faith-based camp in the bluffs of southeastern Minnesota that offers one-day adventures and week-long specialized programs for older campers.
Confirmation, Acolytes, and the Road to Affirmation of Baptism
Confirmation at Zion runs from seventh through ninth grade and meets on Wednesday evenings from late September through May. The program rests on three pillars: regular worship, acts of service, and engaging with God's story through Scripture. Youth work alongside caring adults in small groups, asking hard questions and building relationships in a setting meant to feel safe. The arc of the program builds toward Affirmation of Baptism Sunday, when each young person claims the baptismal promises for themselves in front of the congregation.
Service expectations grow with each year. Seventh graders serve as acolytes twice and submit five worship notes. Eighth graders add five hours of church service and five hours of community service, plus ten worship notes. Ninth graders complete ten total service hours (with at least one in the church and one in the community), submit fifteen worship notes, attend a retreat, and sit down for a one-on-one interview with the children, youth, and family staff before Affirmation of Baptism Sunday. A $500 scholarship is available each year for graduating high school seniors who are continuing on to an ELCA college.
Youth Group and the Wider Family
High schoolers in grades 9 through 12 meet as the Zion Youth Group for fellowship, games, Bible studies, and service projects. Activities are coordinated by a youth team that includes both teen and adult members; anyone is welcome to sit in on the planning meetings. Recent gatherings have included corn maze outings, retreats, a movie night featuring Monsters Inc. with cookie decorating beforehand, and a monthly Monday Game Night open to the whole congregation on the third Monday of each month at 6:30 PM. The youth program maintains an Instagram feed and a Facebook page for updates.
Adult Ministries: Bible Study, Book Club, and Whole-Person Wellness
Adults at Zion have several recurring touchpoints. Circle Groups meet monthly for Bible study and fellowship, some on-site and others in members' homes, and a Book Club gathers in the Zion Library every other month on Monday evenings at 7 PM to discuss a title chosen by the group.
Thrive and Rise is a faith-based whole-person wellness program that runs in two parts each year, addressing physical, spiritual, mental, and relational health. Topics include sleep, resilience, purpose, boundaries, and communication. An Adult Education Focus Group has also been producing a video series built around Portico's Wholeness Wheel, with installments on support, physical wellbeing, optimism, yoga, and financial wellness already released. For daily devotion, the church points members to Luther Seminary's God Pause, a free email subscription with Scripture, a short reflection, and a prayer.
Food Security and the Little Free Pantries of Stewartville
Zion's food security ministry is one of the most visible outward-facing programs of the congregation. Inside the church entry, Zion hosts one of six Little Free Pantries scattered across Stewartville, with sister pantries at Central School (St. John's), the Library (Grace), the middle school/high school (Grace), Northern Ridge (St. Bernard's), and Southern Hills (United Methodist). Donations can be dropped into a shopping cart kept outside the sanctuary doors, and monetary gifts may be directed to Zion or divided among the participating churches.
The congregation also runs a Food Bag Program in which volunteers pack weekend food bags for distribution by staff at Bear Cave Intermediate School, supplementing weekday school meals for children in need. Around Thanksgiving, a Thanksgiving Box Program assembles full holiday meal boxes - turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberries, pie, and whipped cream - funded by donations from the Zion congregation. Sign-up sheets for assembling and delivering the food bags are posted through the church's SignUpGenius pages.
Disaster Recovery and Long-Term Rebuilding
Zion's Disaster Recovery Team travels to communities hit by natural disasters to provide longer-term rebuilding help, picking up where first responders leave off. The team owns an enclosed trailer purchased with funds from the Zion Endowment and stocked with tools such as drywall lifts, drills, saws, and shop vacs. Past trips have taken the team to Houston, Texas; Marshalltown, Iowa; and twice to Mississippi (Hattiesburg in 2019 and Jackson in 2020). The team's stated goal is twofold: completing the physical rebuilding and walking alongside neighbors whose lives carry the long tail of a disaster, learning their stories in the process.
Parish Nurse and Health Ministries
Parish Nurse Beverly Wise, RN, BSN, has served in the role since completing parish nurse training in March 2014 after a forty-year career in the operating room at Mayo Clinic. The Parish Nurse Ministry offers visits and calls to individuals with health concerns, writes a monthly health-focused article for the Zion Messenger newsletter on topics ranging from blood pressure to sunscreen to hydration, and organizes two Mayo Clinic mobile blood drives each year, usually in January and June. Bev also leads journaling and vaccination discussions as part of the parish's preventative health outreach.
Sacraments: Baptism and Weddings
Baptism at Zion is offered at any age and may be scheduled on any Sunday during worship. Parents meet with one of the pastors beforehand for a conversation about what baptism means for daily life, and each newly baptized person receives a personalized baptism banner hung in the fellowship hall for the first year and returned to the family in worship on the one-year anniversary. Weddings may be officiated on-site at Zion or off-site at another location of the couple's choosing; couples are asked to contact the church office for the full wedding policy, including facility use and costs.
Becoming a Member
New members are welcomed once a year, typically in winter or spring. Prospective members attend an orientation to get acquainted with one another and with the life of the congregation, after which they are received during a worship service. Anyone interested is invited to contact Pastor Tim directly.
Music: From the Organ Loft to the Wellspring Band
Music carries a great deal of weight at Zion. The 8 AM Traditional service is anchored by an organist (and pianist), who leads the congregation in hymns. The 10 AM Contemporary service is led by Wellspring, the church's in-house music team, which provides its own singers and instrumentalists. The congregation is always recruiting: anyone who plays organ or piano and would like to accompany the summer choir is encouraged to reach out to Volunteer Coordinator Matt Huggenvik or Pastor Tim. Mission Quilters, a long-running ministry of the congregation, meets every Wednesday from 8:30 AM until noon or later in the workroom.
What Lutherans Believe, in Zion's Words
Zion teaches that Lutherans are a diverse group of people, convinced that the Holy Spirit is leading the church toward unity in the household of God. The congregation confesses belief in the Triune God and sees itself as part of God's unfolding plan. Worship connects the congregation with believers of every time and place; Bible study and prayer draw members more deeply into God's own saving story; and serving others, along with addressing social issues that affect the common good, is how the Christian faith is lived out day to day.
Leadership, Staff, and the Congregation Council
Pastors Allyson and Timothy Bowman share the pulpit and pastoral care duties. Wendy Weber coordinates children's ministries. Wendy Kauffmann serves as office manager. Beverly Wise serves as parish nurse. Matt Huggenvik coordinates volunteers and worship service logistics. Dan Goodew coordinates the Wellspring contemporary worship team. Jo Schimek serves as bookkeeper. Jon Bernhardt serves as tech coordinator. The Congregation Council is led by President Kyla Berg, Vice President Sara Elton, Secretary Holly Meyers, and Treasurer Deb Moeller, with members serving rotating three-year terms. Monthly council reports and an annual report are published and available for review.
Visiting, Volunteering, and Staying Connected
The church office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, closed on holidays. Office phone: 507-533-4283. After-hours emergency numbers are available for the pastors. Visitors who want a head start can fill out the Plan a Sunday Morning page online; worship bulletins, the monthly Messenger newsletter, and a robust set of council reports are linked through the website. Online giving is set up through ChurchTeams, and recurring text reminders about worship themes are available through Remind. Volunteer opportunities are posted and updated regularly, ranging from acolyting and lawn mowing to leading Wednesday meals to delivering food bags to Bear Cave School.
For those who cannot be present in person, the 10 AM service is livestreamed on YouTube, and past services are archived on the same channel so members and friends can worship with Zion from wherever they happen to be.