‘You have a home here.’ State College’s Grace Lutheran Church marks 125th anniversary

Grace Lutheran Church has been a part of countless changes in the 125 years since it formed, but one thing that has remained constant is a focus on community and goal of uniting State College community members.

The church will kick off its 125th anniversary celebration on Sunday, the first of several planned events that stretch into the spring and mark the milestone. Originally chartered in 1898, the church has been a staple since 1965 at its current location on South Garner Street in State College, where it’s affectionately known as the “Dorito Church” for its unique building design.

The building was built and engineered by Harold Wagoner, a prominent 20th century American architect, senior pastor Scott Schul said.

“What really matters is not so much the building itself, but the people and making sure that everybody without exception knows they are welcomed and loved here,” Schul said.

The anniversary celebration, Schul said, is “an opportunity to take stock of where we’ve been (and) celebrate what we’ve accomplished.”

He sees one of those accomplishments as uniting State College community members, which the church has achieved through various service programs. In addition to partnering with the YMCA twice a month for food distributions and providing residence to guests of Out of the Cold: Centre County, the church also partners with Meals on Wheels to produce about 1,200 meals per week out of their kitchen, Schul said.

“I’m real proud of how we’re not only feeding people’s hearts, but feeding their bodies as well,” he said.

Finding a home

Ellen Campbell, a retired high school teacher, started attending Grace Lutheran Church when she was a teenager in the 1960s. She got married in the church at 1971, and after 20 years away from the area, she rejoined in 1993.

Campbell’s oldest son, Matthew, has an intellectual disability, and because the liturgy is an oral tradition, he has learned it through repetition, she said.

“For him, it’s an easy way to participate in the service,” Campbell said. “We found a home here, but even maybe more importantly, our son Matthew has found a home here.”

He’s part of the program known as Disciples Together, which Schul said focuses on “intellectually disabled adults and their caregivers.” The program offers “mid-week dinner church-style worship and music every other month,” along with “dance parties, karaoke, movie nights,” according to the church’s website.

Last year, the church surprised Matthew on his 50th birthday during the weekly supper.

“The people in our church have always treated him with love, grace and care,” Campbell said. “That is really important to us.”

Creating a welcoming environment for all is something that’s important to Schul, too.

The pastor acknowledged the challenge of creating a feeling of inclusion for the next generation of worshipers. He said the church is attempting to reach them “through beauty,” and establishing a sense of beauty through arts and music.

“Back in the Middle Ages, the church was the patron of the arts,” Schul said. “That’s not the case anymore, but we’re trying to resurrect at least a little of that.”

The church is also working on becoming a Reconciling in Christ congregation, which ensures “the welcome, inclusion, celebration, and advocacy for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions,” according to Reconciling Works.

“We accept, encourage and welcome all people from the LGBTQ community,” said Laurel Sanders, the church’s director of music and arts ministries. “You have a home here, you belong to Christ, you are one of us, you are with us.”

Uniting through music

Sanders describes her role as “helping people to discover their unique God-given talents,” regardless of their musical experience.

She first came to Grace Lutheran in 2006 as a parishioner after an 11-year stay in Germany. Because she had elementary school children at the time, Sanders said she was looking for a church with active youth programs.

“When I first came to Grace, I could tell just from my first visit that it was a warm and welcoming place (and) that children were an important part of what they did,” Sanders said.

Soon after she started attending Grace, she was asked to help work with some of the children’s music programs. After writing “two passion plays with music,” Sanders said she founded Crossfire, the church’s teen choir.

Sanders also cited the church’s “ecumenism,” or aim of promoting unity among all churches, as a way it unites community members.

“We are one way of worshipping; we respect many other faith traditions,” Sanders said.

Sanders founded an ecumenical choir in 2012 that “welcomes and actively encourages people” of various denominations of Christianity. She said she uses music as a means of expressing that shared faith.

“We are all one body,” Sanders said. “Let us walk as one body together.”

She said the church’s practice of “love for all people” is what keeps her coming back.

“The warmth that I felt when I first came (to Grace) is the same warmth I feel today,” Sanders said.

Marking a milestone

The first of Grace Lutheran’s anniversary celebration events starts at 8 a.m. Sunday with a traditional, piano-led worship service, followed by a 9 a.m. festive worship service that will also be broadcast and streamed at 10:30 a.m.

At 11 a.m., the church will host worship on the lawn, followed by a picnic. The day’s celebration concludes with a 6 p.m. contemporary worship.

The church will host a special worship service at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15, during which it will share the six original musical works it recently commissioned to celebrate its anniversary. They include three choral anthems, two bell choir anthems, and an organ anthem composed by “native son” Michael Costello, according to Schul.

The church will be holding special events all year long, said Schul, who added that bringing community members together is “at the very core of (his) faith” and is “as much a part of what it means to be a Christian” as everything else.

“One of us here worshipping without the rest (means) we’re all diminished a little bit,” Schul said. “As a society and as a church we need to recapture the importance of community.”

Schul said many people are hesitant to come to churches now because they think they’re not going to be welcomed or they’re going to be judged. He invites those people and anyone else to visit the church, or learn more at Grace Lutheran’s website, www.glcpa.org.

“I’d hate to think that people are in the church because they have been coerced or persuaded to do it for reasons other than love,” Schul said. “The people who are here are here for the right reasons.”

Schul said he understands how vulnerable it can feel to come to a church for the first time.

“Just come,” Schul said. “You’re loved. You’re welcome.”