Tucked into the residential blocks of South Austin's Travis Heights neighborhood, Christ Lutheran Church has stood at 300 East Monroe Street for nearly eight decades. Surrounded by modest homes and shaded by old trees, the white-stucco sanctuary with its adjoining fellowship hall and parking lot is a familiar landmark to neighbors who walk to the 9:30 a.m. Sunday service and to drivers passing through the South Congress corridor. The congregation belongs to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and traces its roots to a 1944 door-to-door religious canvass of South Austin that found no Missouri Synod Lutheran churches between the river and the southern reaches of the city.

The First Eight Decades on Monroe Street

The Texas District Mission Board purchased the present church property in the autumn of 1945, and the first pastor, Donald V. Hafemann, arrived on March 1, 1946. He led the first worship service on May 5, 1946, and the congregation formally adopted its constitution on December 4 of that same year. A year later, on December 7, 1947, ground was broken for the first sanctuary, which was completed and dedicated on May 23, 1948, at a cost of $21,313.

By 1985 the original sanctuary had been outgrown, and the current worship space was built in its place, designed by one of the members. The old sanctuary was repurposed into what the congregation now calls Christ's Workshop, a house-like building at the northwest corner of Monroe and Brackenridge that today hosts community groups, men's meetings, and gatherings of all kinds. The church marked its 75th anniversary in 2021 and 2022 with monthly recognitions of its four ministry pillars - Inspirational Worship, Caring Fellowship, Loving Service, and Relevant Education - alongside year-in-review photo albums that document the congregation's life from 2022 through 2025.

Eight pastors have served Christ Lutheran since 1946. After Hafemann came Arthur O. Kaul (1949-51), Louis W. Wickham (1951-59), Theodore R. Griesse (1960-66), and Roy K. Bohrer, who shepherded the congregation for more than two decades (1967-89). James R. Linderman followed (1990-98), with William B. Knippa serving as assistant (1973-74) and William Alan Sielk as associate (1993-96) during the intervening years. Rev. John C. Stennfeld became the congregation's current pastor in January 2000.

Sunday Worship and the Lutheran Sacramental Life

Worship is the rhythm around which the rest of the church's life turns. Sunday morning begins at 9:30 a.m. in the sanctuary with a service that lasts roughly an hour. The format is described as an eclectic mix of styles and forms, drawing from the historic Lutheran liturgical tradition while leaving room for variety in music and presentation. Every service includes a clear proclamation of the Gospel and is led from printed worship folders that are projected onto a large screen; large-type folders are printed for those who prefer a bolder setting.

Holy Communion is offered at every Sunday service. Christ Lutheran teaches the doctrine of the Real Presence, holding that communicants receive the true body and blood of Jesus in, with, and under the bread and wine. All who have been baptized into the Christian faith, instructed in the Lutheran confessions, sorry for their sins, and trusting in God's forgiveness are welcome at the table.

Baptism, too, is a regular part of the church's life. The congregation baptizes both infants and adults in the name of the Triune God, applying water by sprinkling on the head rather than by immersion.

The 9:30 a.m. service is also livestreamed on Facebook Live, allowing shut-ins and travelers to follow along. A time of fellowship with snacks, coffee, and juice follows in the narthex, and Sunday morning concludes with a 10:45 a.m. Discipleship Hour that runs until about 11:30 a.m.

Discipleship Hour and Christian Education

Christian education at Christ Lutheran happens on Sunday mornings, midweek, and in the catechism class. During the Discipleship Hour at 10:45 a.m., children and youth gather in classrooms to learn about who Jesus is, what He has done for them, what the church believes, and what it means to follow Him. Adults have options that range from clergy-led Bible surveys to laity-led classes focused on the practical needs of daily life, meeting in the fellowship hall and classrooms.

During the school year, an adult midweek Bible study meets on Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. in Classrooms 7 and 8. A dedicated catechism class prepares seventh and eighth graders for confirmation.

The children's ministry also includes a regular stream of puppet-show videos hosted on YouTube under the title Children's Videos - Puppet Shows, giving younger members of the congregation content tailored to their level.

A Library of Sermons and Original Music

Pastor John Stennfeld has built a remarkably large archive of sermons over more than 25 years at Christ Lutheran. The full collection, indexed on the church's website, runs back to the fall of 2010 and is sorted both by church year and by book of the Bible. Sermon series move through the church calendar (Advent, Lent, Holy Week, Easter), through individual books (Genesis through Revelation), and through thematic series such as Being Lutheran, Debunking the World's Lies, Essential Memory Verses Every Christian Should Know, The Lord's Prayer, The Fruit of Jesus, The 7 Deadly Sins (the 2026 Lenten series), and many others.

Pastor John describes the goal of Lutheran preaching as two-fold: first, to drive the hearer to honest awareness of, confession of, and sorrow over sin; second, and more importantly, to comfort the hearer with the forgiveness of sins and the loving grace of God, using the law to convict and the gospel to console.

Sermons are posted as videos with visuals on the ChristAustinSermons YouTube channel and are also available as written text. Members and visitors can request emailed copies of the weekly sermon by writing to office@christaustin.org.

Pastor John is also a prolific songwriter. Under the title Singing Thru The Scriptures, he has written hundreds of hymns organized by the three-year lectionary (A, B, and C) as well as by themes and books of the Bible. The music is performed by Fred Frieling (known as Jess DeMaine), the longtime leader of the church's worship band. Two albums have been released: Jesus is Greater and Wait on the Lord, with additional singles also available. A companion site, singingthruthescriptures.com, hosts the catalog, and Pastor John's own YouTube channel at youtube.com/@revstenny features many of the songs.

Core Beliefs and Lutheran Identity

Christ Lutheran identifies the core of its teaching with historic Lutheran convictions. The church confesses belief in one triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and holds that all people are sinful, but that God forgives on account of Jesus' sacrifice. Jesus Christ is the true and only Son of God, the only means of salvation, who died on the cross as a sacrifice for sin and rose again. He ascended into heaven and will return to raise the dead and judge all mankind. The Holy Spirit now dwells among believers and works to transform them into the likeness of Christ.

The Bible, in this congregation's teaching, is the true Word of God and the only source for Christian belief. Salvation is by grace alone, received through faith alone, not on account of human works. Members who want a more detailed account of Lutheran doctrine are pointed toward the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's website at lcms.org.

The church's vision statement is short: "The people of Christ sharing the love of Christ." Its mission statement unpacks that vision into four practices - Inspirational Worship, Loving Service, Caring Fellowship, and Relevant Education - "so that they might know, and grow in, His love."

Pastor John and the Ministry Team

Rev. John C. Stennfeld graduated from Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois, with a B.A. in philosophy and Biblical languages (1985) and from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis with an M.Div. (1989). He was ordained into his first call at Grace Lutheran Church in San Francisco, where he served until January 2000, when he became pastor of Christ Lutheran. He is married to Pachalin, a native of Thailand, and they have three daughters. Outside the parish, Pastor John plays pickleball, works out, kayaks, travels, and writes hymns. His personal mission statement reads: "My purpose is to glorify God by challenging and instructing others to help them grow toward their fullest God-given potential."

Jordan Boessling has served at Christ Lutheran since August 2007. Originally working in family-life ministry, he transitioned in 2009 to the role of Minister of Creative Communications and Community Connections (a title the congregation informally shortens to "MCC squared"). Jordan holds a degree from Concordia University Wisconsin (2003), a D.C.E. certification from Concordia University Texas (2009), and a Master of Arts in Theology from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (2011). His responsibilities include Sunday worship media and livestreaming, children's and midweek discipleship classes, collection drives and service opportunities, Christ's Workshop, the website, visual arts, and property management.

The church office is open Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; visitors are asked to call ahead.

Loving Service: From the Front Steps to the World

The congregation takes seriously the call to serve neighbors near and far. On Wednesday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon, volunteers prepare sack lunches of single-serve nonperishable food items to distribute to people experiencing homelessness in the community.

Other regular partnerships and projects include:

• Bread for All, an ecumenical meal ministry coordinated through Austin City Lutherans.
• Central Texas Food Bank, where the congregation sets aside a Saturday each summer to volunteer in the Product Recovery Warehouse, inspecting, sorting, and boxing donations.
• Texas Ramp Project, which builds wheelchair ramps for low-income households.
• Marbridge, a community near Manchaca that serves adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Travis Heights Art Trail, a local arts weekend hosted on the church campus.
• Lutheran World Relief Quilts, a monthly gathering that sews quilts sent to impoverished communities overseas.
• Braille Bible Workers, a ministry producing Bibles in Braille.
• CWEFT (Child Welfare and Education Foundation of Thailand), a child-care ministry in the Bangna slum of Bangkok that the church prays for and financially supports.
• Water to Thrive, an organization that builds water wells in rural Africa. Through ten pumpkin patch seasons and a dedicated Spring/Summer 2024 fundraising campaign, Christ Lutheran funded two wells: the first in Tanzania, completed in Spring 2025, and the second underway in the Bukedea district of eastern Uganda, part of a Uganda Water Project cluster that will bring daily clean water to more than 16,000 community members.

The church has also organized mission trips over the years to places such as Mexico, Oklahoma, and New Orleans.

SoCo Pumpkin Patch: A Decade of Community and Clean Water

From 2015 through 2025, with a gap in 2020, the church hosted the SoCo Pumpkin Patch in the backyard of Christ's Workshop, a community event that ran nearly three weeks each October. The patch sold pumpkins and, together with the proceeds, raised tens of thousands of dollars for Water to Thrive's clean-water mission. After ten seasons the church decided to sunset the pumpkin patch; the logistics of staffing and decorating the patch for two and a half weeks every fall became more than volunteers could sustain. In its place, the church will host a Halloween Family Fun Fest on the morning of October 31 in the backyard of Christ's Workshop, complete with food, games, crafts, photos, and a service project benefiting families at the local Ronald McDonald House.

Caring Fellowship: Sunday Mornings and Weekday Groups

Fellowship at Christ Lutheran is built into the rhythm of the week. Coffee, juice, and snacks are served after the Sunday service, and a sign-up sheet in the narthex lets members volunteer to bring treats on the Sundays they choose. Periodic fellowship lunches, a Super Bowl-of-Chili Cook-off, Lenten lunches, an Easter egg hunt, a Rally Day church picnic, a Pumpkin Patch truck-unloading gathering, and a Christmas decorating event round out the year.

Two weekly small groups meet year round. The Men's Discipleship Class gathers on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. from September through May at Christ's Workshop for conversation, community, and Bible study. Women of Christ meets off campus on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. for Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.

Christ's Workshop: A House for the Neighborhood

The original 1948 sanctuary was remodeled into what is now called Christ's Workshop, a building that sits at the northwest corner of Monroe and Brackenridge. The space is used as a meeting place for community 12-step recovery groups and hosts a variety of church and community gatherings. With its adjacent fenced yard and children's playground, it doubles as overflow fellowship space and the venue for many of the church's larger events.

Music, Bands, and the Sounds of Worship

Music plays a central role at Christ Lutheran. The worship band, led by Fred Frieling, blends contemporary and traditional styles, accompanying congregational singing that draws on both the church's Lutheran heritage and the hymns composed by Pastor John. Country gospel music videos produced as a collaboration between Pastor John (lyricist) and Frieling (composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist) are posted on the church's YouTube channel. The videos, assembled with help from Jordan Boessling, have become an additional form of outreach beyond the walls of the sanctuary.

Music Resources for Personal Study

Members and visitors who want to dig deeper into the Bible can use a set of online resources the congregation regularly recommends: Bible Gateway, Blue Letter Bible, the LCMS Lectionary Series, and Lutheran Hour Ministries, including the daily devotions offered at lhm.org. Children's puppet-show videos can be found on the ChristAustinSermons YouTube channel.

Becoming a Member

Visitors are welcome to take part in worship, service, fellowship, and the educational life of the congregation without any obligation. Those who wish to make a formal commitment may join one of the membership classes offered a couple of times each year; the classes walk through Lutheran practice and belief. Anyone interested is invited to contact Pastor John at the church number for current dates.

Prayer Requests

Members and friends of the church can submit prayer requests to the church office by email at office@christaustin.org or by phone at (512) 442-5844. The office adds prayer requests to a prayer chain and/or to the Sunday morning prayers as requested.

Online Giving

Regular and one-time offerings can be made electronically by debit from a checking or savings account or by credit or debit card. The online giving program offers two funds - the General Fund and the Building Fund - with options for one-time or recurring contributions. Receipts are emailed on request. Contributions can also be made to cover the small transaction fees.

What to Know Before You Visit

Sunday worship is at 9:30 a.m. in the sanctuary, with a Discipleship Hour following at 10:45 a.m. Fellowship time with coffee and snacks is held after the service in the narthex. All services are written out in easy-to-read worship folders, projected on a screen, and printed in large type on request. Visitors may attend anonymously - no one will be asked to stand up or introduce themselves. Holy Communion is offered at every service, and all baptized Christians who have been instructed in the Lutheran confessions and trust in God's forgiveness are welcome at the table.

Children are welcome in worship. A nursery (unstaffed but well supplied with toys) is available for parents who prefer to take restless children out.

Parking is plentiful on Sunday mornings, with both street parking and a lot below the sanctuary. The City of Austin's South Congress Parking and Transportation Management District has begun a paid parking system that includes the three streets surrounding the church - Drake, Monroe, and Brackenridge - so visitors are encouraged to watch for signage.

The church is at 300 East Monroe Street, Austin, Texas 78704. The phone number is (512) 442-5844, and the office email is office@christaustin.org.

Across the Years

When Christ Lutheran Church gathered for the first time in 1946, the surrounding streets of South Austin were still mostly residential, and the nearest Missouri Synod Lutheran church was a long way off. Eight decades later, the neighborhood has changed, the sanctuary has been replaced, and the city has grown into a capital-sized metropolis, but the central commitment of the congregation has remained the same: to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the community and the world. The sign at the corner of Monroe and Brackenridge still points the way.