On the first three Tuesdays of each month at 11:00 AM, volunteers at Light of the Hills, Cameron Park, CA open the doors to the food closet to minister to those in need in El Dorado County. Currently, they are serving about 100 families per week! While the goal is to offer food to those in need, it is also an opportunity to show God’s love and come alongside those who are struggling. In the process, relationships are formed, conversations and prayer are had and hope is gradua

What a beautiful blessing it was to witness two of our sixth-grade students, Kyle and Mack, receive the gift of Holy Baptism during chapel at St. Peter Lutheran School. Surrounded by the entire student body, their 24 sixth-grade classmates, and their families, these two young men celebrated a very special moment in their faith journeys. What began as conversations about faith during youth group with Mr. and Mrs. Rossi continued into the classroom and chapel, ultimately leadin

Bay Area Lutheran Young Adults (BALYA) gathered on Saturday, October 24th, for a fun mini golf outing. The evening began with Vespers at First Immanuel Lutheran Church in San Jose, CA, after which the group walked to a nearby mini golf spot downtown, where they enjoyed good conversations and friendly competition on a 9-hole course. The night concluded with everyone sitting down for dinner together at a nearby food court. Stay tuned for future BALYA events!

On Monday, October 19th, the children of Faith Lutheran Church in Yerington, Nevada were greeted by their very own pumpkin patch on the front yard of the church. The pumpkins were lovingly grown and donated by members of the congregation. This has become an annual event that the children look forward to each year. After selecting their pumpkins, the kids were able to decorate them and take them home. Students were given a lesson on the "Pumpkin Gospel," which highlights the f

One of the blessings of our CNH District Lutheran schools is how school families' lives are changed by the Gospel of Christ. This often leads to baptisms, sometimes of students and sometimes whole families. On October 18, three generations of one family were baptized at St. John's Lutheran Church in Napa, CA. Three girls from the family (preschool, third grade, and sixth grade) are students at St. John's. Their father and grandfather joined them and were also baptized tha

Bella Vista Academy in Tracy, CA (St. Paul’s, Tracy) joined the global “Rock Your School” movement, creating fun and unforgettable learning experiences for our students! Rock Your School is a worldwide movement created by Get Your Teach On that encourages educators to turn ordinary lessons into creative, unforgettable learning experiences. They seek to boost student engagement, bring joy back to the classroom, and combat teacher burnout. Teachers can do as much or as little a

The preschool class at St. John's, Napa pose with their new bibles. In their chapel last month, St. John's Lutheran School in Napa, California had their annual Presentation of Bibles to their second graders. The next week, Children's Bibles were presented to all of the preschool students. It is a tradition at St. John's to present Bibles to second graders and preschool students at the start of each school year. Bibles are purchased and signed by church and school leaders and

The end of summer gathering of Bay Area pastors and their families has grown from less than 30 people attending to more than 60 this year in the fifth addition of the event. Hosted by Matt & Sherrah Behrens in San Lorenzo, the time together is built around connecting with one another as neighbors and friends, with no other agenda, task list, or schedule to follow. These social spaces are also an important touchpoint for wives who do not have as many opportunities to connect (

About 120 children and adults gathered at Bethany Lutheran Ministries, Vacaville, for a Family Day of fun, games, bounce houses, softball clinic, food and fellowship. Missionary Tim Sandeno shared his story of growing up in Vacaville, going to the Naval Academy, serving as a Navy Aviator, graduating from Concordia Theological Seminary and planting churches. He and his wife Lisa leave for Germany on January 4 where they will plant an English-speaking congregation next to a U

On Sunday, September 20, Pastor Joe Robb blessed the 120 quilts and 200 care kits to be sent to Lutheran World Relief, put together by the Caring Covers Quilters of Our Savior Lutheran Ministries, Livermore, CA. This was the culmination of a year’s long work by the group to provide a sign of God’s love to people around the world. To provide an example of where the quilts and kits are given, a video was shown of men from a veterans program in North Carolina receiving them afte

Bethany Lutheran Church is located in Vacaville, California, serving the Vacaville community since 1960, and their school has been a ministry of Bethany since 1983. The school moved to their current location in 2008, situated in a growing community of new developments. For thirteen years, the church and school were at different locations across town from each other until 2021, when the old property was sold and the church ministry joined the school at its current location. Pa

Redeemer Lutheran School in Redwood City welcomes two new leaders to their school ministry. Kevin Bradshaw is the new Head of School at Redeemer. Kevin has served as a high school and professional coach, High School Dean of Students, high school principal, vocational campus president, and Executive Director of City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, where he implemented ELA and math programs across 13 K–12 schools and led fundraising and marketing efforts. His background also incl

Dustin Madden and his wife Nicole came into the Lutheran Church in Susanville about 10 years ago. They both had a background in catholicism. Nicole grew up in Westwood, California, a small town between Chester and Susanville. Dustin has a position as a nutritionist for one of the prisons in Susanville. For many years, St. Paul’s in Susanville has been vacant and served by faithful retired pastors mostly from the Reno area and our Nevada Circuit. Other Northern California

Jason Pitcavage, a resident of Vacaville, graduate of Vacaville Christian High School and a Senior Pre-Medicine Student at St. Mary's College in Moraga, contacted Bethany (Vacaville) in June saying he wanted to be a Lutheran. He had read the entire Bible and had read the Gospels multiple times. He was disappointed in the theology of the large non-denominational church in Vacaville that he attended for years. What convinced him about Lutheranism was his study of the Reforma

EdgeCamp (Zion, San Francisco) is a six-week, summer program serving children entering Kindergarten through 8th grade, from 8 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Friday. What began as a vision 10 years ago to provide a Christ-centered summer experience for children has become a beautiful testimony of God’s faithfulness. Through every summer, child, volunteer, counselor, and challenge, God has continued to provide, guide, and open doors. Approximately 35% of the campers come from Zion Schoo

Grace Lutheran in Gridley, California is hosting “Cars & Coffee” with monthly gatherings on the third Saturday. The outreach, which has been going on for the past six months, has provided Grace the platform to invite their community onto the campus and build relationships that can lead to deeper conversations. Michael Doehrman, a deacon at Grace, and his wife started the event. Along with Gold Country Street Rods, a local car club they are a part of, the event has grown with

Luther Cameron (left) and Isaiah Mudge (right) have served as vicars under Pastor Rob Weller Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, pastored by Rob Weller, and First Immanuel Lutheran Church (San Jose) entered a partnership in 2023 to apply for a vicar which would serve at both congregations. First Immanuel is vacant and the vision for the partnership was to be able to provide First Immanuel with consistent pastoral care. Shepherd of the Valley had a house that wasn't being

Ten years ago, Reverend Muluneh Taye and his wife, Liya, planted a seed. They founded Reverend Muluneh Taye Ministries, a nonprofit devoted to discipling young adults and raising up the next generation of Christian leaders. A decade later, that seed has grown into a movement spanning cities across Ethiopia. This year's outreach carried a message titled, "Beyond the Scroll: From Scrolling to Building." It was a call for young adults to set aside digital distraction and root th

First, Concord Rainforest Falls VBS was an amazing week exploring the nature of God! Kids learned He's our Creator (even meeting a butterfly with teeth and a quetzal), and explored His nature through Bible Adventures, Sticky Scriptures, Imagination and Exploration stations, songs, and games. From Psalm 42:5, they discovered God is our safe place, building egg-drop "shell-ters" inspired by David hiding in a cave. The week wrapped up with extra dance parties on the final day! O

Steve Tomac comes from a family of pastors, but his path into ministry was an uncommon one. Now the pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Yerington, Nevada, Tomac sees his journey as one that helped shape him to meet this moment. His parents had always hoped he would enter the ministry, and it wasn't hard to see why. His great-great-great-grandfather, Gottfried Schmidt, had been among the Lutheran immigrants who fled Saxony in search of religious freedom. Both Gottfried's son an