St. John’s exists as a living part of the body of Christ, as a
vibrant part of our community, as a dramatic presence at the
corner of 17th and L streets, and as a home of God’s gifts of
grace, peace, love, tolerance, generosity and hope.
The Rev. Martin E. Marty, Lutheran theologian, author and
teacher, answers that question quite simply: “A Lutheran is a
follower of Jesus Christ, a member of the Christian Church. He or
she would be defined as an evangelical Christian. The term
“evangelical” refers to a term Protestants like to use to point
out that their faith centers in the good news of what God has
done for people in Jesus Christ.”
California Lutheran College, BA in English & Philosophy
(1982)
Hastings College of the Law, Juris Doctor (1985)
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, MDiv (2000)
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
The Call Committee has had some productive and informative
meetings with congregational members in various group settings.
And one of the most enjoyable was with the children of Akaloo.
The conversation at this gathering was wonderfully led by
Jennifer Johnson and Angela Nickerson and out of the mouths of
the young came wisdom. And out of their imagination came a host
of drawings depicting their views of St. John’s.
Many of you have asked about the call process. What follows is a
short summary of the first phase of our work.
The call committee is first tasked with developing a
Congregational Profile. This process involves making sure every
person and group that is connected to St. John’s has the
opportunity to give input to the committee. To this end, meetings
are being scheduled with groups within St. John’s and in the
surrounding community, and with organizations that are part of
our outreach mission.
The committee already has had excellent exchanges with the church
council the Akaloo students and their parents, the Stephen
Ministers and the Book of Faith group, and the Faith Imprints
parents. Several other gatherings have been arranged and more are
in the pipeline. In addition, we are always open to hearing from
any individuals at any time.
We will compile the information received from all of these
sources and complete the Congregational Profile. This process
will probably take several months.
Once the Profile is finished it will be sent to the Synod office
to be reviewed and made available to those pastors who are
identified as excellent candidates for the Senior Pastor
position. At that time, the call committee will be open to
receiving names of clergy from the Synod and from any other
interested parties – i.e. a member of St. John’s.
The Synod’s role throughout this process is to support the
committee in its work. And, as noted, the Bishop and his staff
also serve as the clearinghouse for potential candidates.
After the committee receives the names of potential candidates,
the next phase begins. Stay tuned and the committee will share as
much information as it can while deeply respecting the strict
confidentiality of the process as it progresses.
St. John’s Lutheran Church is located at the corner of 17th and L
Streets in Midtown Sacramento. To view a map of our location,
visit our Directions page.
Despite our location in the busiest part of Sacramento, we are
blessed with ample free parking on Sundays. We have a small
parking lot on the church grounds as well as a parking garage at
the corner of 18th and K Streets. Check out our Parking page for
more information.
At St. John’s we believe that worship is a creative and engaging
experience, and we worship in a wide variety of styles. Visit our
worship page for more information about our worship times and
styles.
Some changes to the Constitution and Bylaws were approved by the
Church Council and at the Annual Congregational Meeting in
February 2009. The majority of the changes were needed for St.
John’s Constitution to be in line with the ELCA model
constitution. The rest were editing changes made to clarify the
meaning and intention of the articles.
Man and woman, woman and man, come together in marriage, in love,
in unity. This unity is compared in Scriptures to the oneness of
Christ and his church.
As God is love, so has God given to us the capacity to express
love, and marriage provides us the opportunity to reflect on the
divine relationship of love.
Love is kind, love is considerate, love is giving rather than
getting, and it is such love that is embodied in the gift of
marriage.
St. John’s is located in the middle of a vibrant city and we
recognize that parking can be a problem. That is why on Sundays,
free parking is available in our garage on the corner of 18th
& K Streets. It’s right next door.
The garage opens at 8 am and closes at 2 pm. It re-opens for our
Sunday evening worship at 4:30 pm and closes at 8:30 pm. In
addition, there is some metered street parking on L Street and
other nearby streets. Sunday is normally exempt from fees.
