St Luke Lutheran Church – 4456 Morse Rd, Columbus, OH 43230
Today I really enjoyed spending time with Pastor Mike and Pastor Kris at St. Luke’s for their 10:00am contemporary service. They do also have traditional Lutheran services offered at both 8:30am and 11:00am for those who prefer a more traditional approach to your worship. To me that was the unique thing about this church. It understands the transition between the two styles for older vs a younger membership. Interestingly, I recently discovered that “contemporary” worship styles are credited to Gen X. This contemporary style is becoming much more popular among all churches I’ve noticed and seems to be the prominent style of the day that draws more membership.
I was graciously given a tour of the church by Karen. This church is active within both the local community and the international community with various outreach programs. They also have a Tuesday Bible study at both 9:00am and 7:00pm for those who work during the day. I noticed that this church has a much larger active youth group with an exception being the Vineyard. It seems that gathering new young membership is really tough these days for churches around the district. Not only that, but Covid really has socially stifled many church memberships including this one. Many of them offer online worship still even though Covid was more visible back in 2020-2021. It seems the quicker a church decided to open its doors for in person worship the better it has survived and kept an in-tact membership. The true purpose of church is in the fellowship a church can offer to its members and to its community. That is why in person services and participation is so very important to keep churches alive. They truly hold a very important role in local communities.
The other striking thing about this church was its church band had one of the most beautifully talented lead singers. Her passion for music reached out through the services and the congregation. Although the church also has a more traditional church choir for its more traditional membership services. The more churches I visit the more difficult it will be to decide which congregation I fit best with. Karen gave me a term for my church tour. She said it was “church hopping.” Many people do this when looking for a new church to become a part of when they have decided to get more involved with their communities and their walk with spirituality in the Christian version of their spiritual path.