About St. John’s Lutheran Church
Welcome to St. John’s. This is a community that is encouraging, engages in God’s mission in the world, and equips people for life lived as the people of God who join God in God’s work in this world.
At St. John’s, you will feel welcomed and encouraged. This is a place where you will hear, see, and experience the love of God in Jesus. We value things like kindness, generosity, and being genuine. We are a community who cultivates hope as we focus on the presence and work of God in our lives, among us in our gatherings, and through us in our world as we seek to carry God’s love and grace into our neighborhoods and share them with the people around us.
One time you will see and experience this is on Sunday mornings. Our worship services are on Sunday mornings at 9:15 with education hour and Sunday school at 10:30. The second Sunday of every month is coffee and donut fellowship after the worship service. This is a fun opportunity for us to build relationships with one another, and share life together.
Your experiences at St. John’s will Equip you to live out your faith. As we gather together, we receive God’s gifts, are fed and nourished by them, and then sent out to join God in God’s mission in our world, and share and show the good news of God’s love in Jesus with the people around us.
We engage in the world. That is, we join God in the work that God is doing in healing and restoring the creation back to himself. In addition to the Sunday morning activities, we also have Bible Studies throughout the week. There are also many and various service opportunities.
A full list of the ministry opportunities at St. John’s is available here.
St. John’s is a congregation in the Southeastern District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. We have been serving in Dover since 1923.
You are invited to come and experience life with us. Whether you are looking for a place to worship or wanting an opportunity to learn more about the Bible or the Christian faith, you are always welcome at St. John’s.
About the St. John’s Logo
As you look at our logo, you will notice in the white space a cross. This is because the cross is at the center of everything that we do. On the cross, God’s love and power were demonstrated as Jesus defeated the powers of sin, evil, and death. You will also notice the leaves that make up the cross. This represents how, for us, the cross is transformed into a tree of life. For it was on the cross that Jesus won for us forgiveness, salvation, and life that never ends. As the proper preface for Holy Week states, by the tree of the cross, Jesus accomplished the salvation of humanity, “That, where death arose, there life also might rise again and that the serpent who overcame by the tree of the garden might likewise by the tree of the cross be overcome.” The leaves function as a compass. They are pointing in all directions. This shows how we believe that God sends us out into the world to join God in the work that God is doing in this place. Even though the leaves are green, the shape of each one resembles a drop of water or a tongue of fire. Both speak to the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit among us and the new identity that we receive in the waters of baptism. Finally, the cross has some curvature to it. This gives the appearance of movement. And this represents how the Christian life is not static but something that grows, develops, and moves with time.
About the St. John’s Mission Statement
Equip for Life + Encourage in Discipleship + Engage in Service
Our mission statement summarizes what we are all about at St. John’s. We believe that God is at work in our lives, among us in our gatherings together, and through us in our neighborhoods and communities around us. Therefore, as a congregation we seek to support that work that God is doing in, among, and through us. We accomplish this by Equipping for life, Encouraging in discipleship, and Engaging in service.
As we gather for worship and spend time in prayer and in the study of God’s word, the Holy Spirit works to equip us for life. He gives us everything we need to live as his people in this world and to join him in his work in this world.
This can be a difficult thing to do. And so, we encourage in discipleship. To be a disciple means that we listen to and follow Jesus. We seek to live as he lived and to follow what he taught. It also speaks to the close relationship that we enjoy with him. He loves us and cares for us. At St. John’s, we seek to help people grow in this relationship and in living as disciples of Jesus in this world.
One of the most powerful witnesses that can be made are acts of love and service done in the name of Jesus. And so we engage in service. These are things that we do for our neighbors to show them the love of God. Service is an important part of the Christian life, and it is crucial to everything that we do here.