American Lutheran Church has changed.

ALC has been in GJ for nearly 80 years, but not like this. Come and check us out. Or join us on youtube so you don’t have to make small talk or worry about what to wear or if we’ll be like every other church that claims to be different & you will hate it & wish you could mute me/scream into the void. Because here’s the thing: we’re not everyone’s cup of coffee.

We take the Bible seriously but not literally. We talk about hard things & try hard not to absolve ourselves from responsibility for the ongoing captivity of racism, sexism, disablism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, anti-semitism, nationalism, colonialism & capitalism. We believe all of those things are in opposition to the liberating love of God revealed in Christ. As followers of Christ, we believe God is calling us to disrupt & dismantle all those systems of captivity. We have a lot to (un)learn still and our perspectives are limited by the relative homogeneity of the congregation. We read & listen & talk & when we are invited to show up in solidarity, we do. We are committed to holding space for people who have very little space, especially in this community, & to actually ceding that space to the people it is for: queer people, Indigenous people, Black people, African American People, People of Color, disabled people, children, non-male people, transgender people…you, if you want & need it.

Worship is not a production at ALC. If you are looking for polished, we’re not it. We sing old songs, sometimes I forget to turn my mic on, we start late, & there is no stage lighting. But we’re earnest. And you will be welcome even if you can’t sit still or don’t like uncomfortable clothes or can’t sing well or don’t know how Lutheran services usually go.

There are some things we can’t tolerate: threatening, intimidating, or aggressive behavior & words, for instance, including racial, gender, or other slurs (e.g. intentional misgendering). Consent violations are also intolerable at ALC-we respect each others’ bodies & boundaries regardless of age. This is not an exhaustive list but you get the spirit, right?

Anyway, we’d love to worship with you, talk with you, listen to you, learn with & from you, celebrate your sacredness as a beloved child of God with you, maybe even argue with you about scripture or movies or books or something.