Tucked along Mount Oak Road in Bowie, Maryland, All Saints Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America whose reputation has grown well beyond Prince George's County. Members describe themselves with a simple phrase: "All. Means. All." The church is a long-standing member of the Reconciling In Christ program through ReconcilingWorks, and its Just Grace Committee has shaped the congregation's identity through years of education and advocacy on racial and social justice. Worship follows the ELCA liturgical calendar, a community garden grows behind the building, and a scholarship program has quietly sent generations of young people from the pews off to college and trade school.
All Means All: A Reconciling In Christ Congregation
At All Saints, the welcome statement adopted at a Special Congregational Meeting on October 16, 2022, spells out an unusually explicit commitment. The congregation affirms that all people are loved unconditionally and abundantly by God and extends a warm welcome regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, disability, socioeconomic status, or place in the faith journey. The statement pledges to keep learning and growing in the work of antiracism, social and economic justice, and care for creation.
Becoming a Reconciling In Christ (RIC) congregation was a deliberate process rather than a quick vote. Sunday-evening sessions walked members through SOGIE terminology, an implicit-bias workshop, and a study of how Lutherans interpret scripture. Drafts of the welcome statement were reviewed by the congregation, then finalized at the special meeting. The church belongs to a wider network of Lutheran congregations that share this commitment through ReconcilingWorks.
The congregation's public witness flows from that identity. In 2022 the Just Grace Committee published a statement denouncing anti-transgender legislation and calling on state and national leaders to protect transgender youth. An earlier statement denounced the violence of January 6, 2021, and reaffirmed the church's "Resolution on Racial Justice."
Just Grace: Racial and Social Justice at the Center
Just Grace was established in 2018 by the congregation to advocate for racial and social justice through education and conversation. The committee has produced a Virtual Book Table stocked with fiction, memoir, nonfiction, and children's literature chosen by members, with annotations explaining why each book mattered to them. The reading list includes Clint Smith's How the Word is Passed, Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain's Four Hundred Souls, Resmaa Menakem's My Grandmother's Hands, Annette Gordon-Reed's On Juneteenth, Toni Morrison's Jazz, and James McBride's Song Yet Sung, set on the Maryland Eastern Shore.
Each year the committee marks the Emanuel Nine Commemoration and Day of Repentance on June 17 and Juneteenth on June 19. In the spring of 2021, during Lent, members worked through My Grandmother's Hands together, following the recommendation of Metro DC Synod Bishop Leila Ortiz. Just Grace also maintains a social-justice presence on Facebook and writes annual reports to keep the congregation accountable to its stated commitments.
Sunday Worship: Stepping Away to Love God
Worship at All Saints is built around the ELCA liturgical calendar and takes place every Sunday at 10:30 AM. The Worship and Music Ministry Team, working with the pastor and director of music, prepares services that are Christ-centered, rooted in the Gospel, and tied to the church year, from Ash Wednesday and Lent through Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, and the long stretch of Sundays after Pentecost that fills the rest of the calendar.
Each Sunday's bulletin is published online in a flipbook format, with a PDF download available for anyone who prefers to follow along on paper. Worship is also livestreamed weekly on the church's YouTube channel, and an archive of past services going back several years is kept there as well. The congregation's online Code of Conduct applies as much to the comments section as to the parking lot: members are asked to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God in all their interactions.
Behind the scenes, the team regularly invites members to engage with the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings through short activities and discussion prompts, so the planning process stays rooted in the people in the seats.
A Congregation Impressive with Written Word: The Book Group
The All Saints Book Group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 9:00 AM, in person at the church and on Zoom simultaneously. There are no requirements and no cost, and members are welcome whenever their schedules permit. A full season of titles is published at the start of the year, mixing contemporary fiction, memoir, and historical novels.
Recent and upcoming selections have included The Thread Collectors by Shaunna Edwards and Alyson Richman, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Ariel Lawhon's The Frozen River, and Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. Discussion leaders are drawn from the membership, and a winter break in January and a June book-sharing session round out the year.
Ministry Teams: How a Volunteer Congregation Runs
All Saints is run almost entirely by volunteers organized into ministry teams. The Evangelizing (E) Team encourages members and neighbors of all ages to grow as committed disciples and offers support to those who have stepped away from church life. The Fellowship Team plans gatherings, recognition events, and activities that knit the congregation together socially.
The Youth Ministry Team supports the All Saints Teen Youth Group, organizes lock-ins, and coordinates a regular mission trip. Every three years the team oversees All Saints' participation in the ELCA National Youth Gathering. The Learn Ministry Team shapes an education program that teaches the Word of God, drawing on materials and resources offered by the ELCA. The Worship and Music Ministry Team handles the full sweep of Sunday worship planning. The Serve Ministry Team leads the congregation's outreach projects. The Stewardship Ministry Team helps members offer their time, talent, and money in thanksgiving to God. The Budget and Finance Ministry Team draws up the annual budget, manages insurance, counts the offering, and arranges audits. The Property Management Ministry Team keeps the building clean, comfortable, and ready for worship, education, and the community groups that use the building throughout the week.
Service in the Community: Bowie Food Pantry and Beyond
The Serve Ministry Team and the Mission Endowment Fund connect All Saints to the wider Prince George's County community and beyond. Yearly service projects include Christmas in April - Prince George's County, Gifts of Hope, Christmas at Shepherd's Cove, yard and house clean-ups, CROP Walk, and ongoing support of the Bowie Food Pantry. The Mission Endowment Fund awards grants totaling tens of thousands of dollars each year to new or enhanced ministries of All Saints, outreach ministries in the metropolitan Washington area, and the mission of the ELCA in the United States and worldwide.
The building itself is open to neighbors beyond the congregation. The Property Ministry Team hosts Girl Scouts, Alcoholics Anonymous, and other community groups in the facility, welcoming people into the Lord's house. A community garden plot program invites members and neighbors to grow food on church grounds.
The Scholarship Program: Sending Students Onward
Since 2003, All Saints has awarded scholarships to students from the congregation who are attending a two- or four-year college, university, or trade school. The All Saints Lutheran Church and Pastor Wanda McNeill Scholarship Program is funded by contributions from members and friends, with a special May Scholarship Campaign each year. Awards are not based on financial need or grades, only on active engagement in the life of the congregation. Applications are submitted by mid-April, and the committee reports its awards by the first Sunday in August.
What Lutherans Believe, and Where All Saints Fits
All Saints is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran body in North America, formed in 1988 from three predecessor church bodies. Lutherans hold to three principles often summarized as Grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone: salvation is by the grace of God alone, received through faith alone, with the Bible as the norm for faith and life. The Reformation is still celebrated on October 31, marking the day Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517.
The ELCA is in full communion with the Moravian Church, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. The ELCA also shares an ongoing dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, including the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification signed with the Lutheran World Federation. All Saints sits within the ELCA's Metro DC Synod, which supports the congregation through resources for evangelism, youth, and social ministry.
The Grapevine Newsletter
The weekly Grapevine newsletter, named for the biblical image of the vine and the branches from the Gospel of John, is the congregation's main channel for announcements, calendar events, worship information, and notes about neighbors and the wider synod. An archive of past issues is kept online for members who want to look back.
Giving and Stewardship
Members and supporters can give through the Simply Giving program, the Vanco Mobile App on Apple and Android devices, or by mailing a check to the church office. All Saints is also a Thrivent Choice-enrolled organization, eligible to receive grant dollars and support from Thrivent Action Team service projects. The Stewardship Ministry Team contacts every member of the congregation each year to offer an opportunity to share time, talent, and money in thanksgiving to God.
Joining In
Visitors can attend Sunday worship at 10:30 AM at 16510 Mount Oak Road in Bowie, with the bulletin available online ahead of time and the service livestreamed on YouTube for those at home. The Book Group gathers on the second Saturday of the month at 9:00 AM in person and on Zoom. Anyone interested in serving, volunteering, or joining a ministry team can reach the congregation at church@allsaintsbowie.org or 301-249-6300, and the Just Grace Committee keeps its own presence on Facebook.