On South Lincoln Avenue, just south of the old downtown core of El Cajon, First Evangelical Lutheran Church has been sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the people of east county San Diego since shortly after the Second World War. The congregation marked its 80th anniversary in 2026, gathering the community for an ice cream social that drew generations of families who had been baptized, married, and buried from this one location. Today the church is a confessional member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and its pastor, James Huenink, likes to summarize the congregation's heartbeat in a single phrase: "Sharing the grace of God with one another and the community."
Two Divine Services, One Liturgy
Each Sunday morning the congregation gathers twice around the historic Christian liturgy that Lutherans have practiced since the Reformation. The 8:30 a.m. Divine Service is the traditional service, accompanied by organ, while the 11:00 a.m. Divine Service uses contemporary music. Both services follow the same liturgical structure and run about an hour. The pastor explains that the word "divine service" is chosen deliberately: Lutherans believe that God comes to His people in worship to give them His grace, not the other way around. Everything in the bulletin is printed out so newcomers can follow along, and the congregation actively sings, prays, and responds together.
At 9:45 a.m., between the two services, adults gather for a Bible study while the children attend Sunday School. The Sunday morning rhythm makes the building a place of learning as much as a place of worship.
What Visitors Will Find
First Lutheran welcomes anyone who walks through the doors, Lutheran or not. People wear a range of clothing to services, from suits and dresses to shorts and t-shirts; most simply dress a little nicer than their everyday wear. Reserved parking spots in front of and behind the sanctuary are set aside for first- and second-time visitors, with additional handicap parking available.
Children are considered full members of the body of Christ at First Lutheran, and the congregation deliberately makes room for the sound of little ones in worship. Families are encouraged to sit near the front so children can see what is happening, and noisy kids are taken as a sign of a living church rather than a distraction. During the 9:45 a.m. hour, children head to their own Sunday School while parents join the adults for Bible study.
The church practices closed communion, a historic Christian practice in which only members of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in fellowship with the congregation are invited to receive the bread and wine. Anyone who is not yet a member is warmly welcome to come forward to receive a blessing, and the pastor regularly encourages visitors who are interested in communing to begin the membership process so they can be instructed in what the church teaches.
A Congregation That Teaches the Catechism
Becoming a member of First Lutheran begins with a conversation with the pastor. After that, most people enter a short track of about ten classes that covers the basics of the Christian faith and the Lutheran tradition. For those who want a deeper preparation, the pastor offers a baptism or confirmation track tailored to each person's background. The catechetical instruction centers on the Small Catechism of Martin Luther and the historic Christian creeds, especially the Nicene Creed, which the congregation has begun confessing in Sunday worship in addition to the Apostles' Creed.
The congregation's teaching flows from three Reformation slogans that the church repeats on its beliefs page. Grace Alone: God loves the world even though it is sinful, and sent His Son to love the unlovable and save the ungodly. Faith Alone: by His suffering and death as the substitute for all people, Jesus won forgiveness and eternal life, and He gives that forgiveness to all who hear the Good News and believe it. Scripture Alone: the Bible is God's inerrant and infallible Word, the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine, revealing His Law and His Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ.
The Means of Grace at the Center
First Lutheran teaches that the Holy Spirit works through what Lutherans call the means of grace to create and sustain faith. The four means of grace are the Word of God, Holy Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Confession and Absolution. The pastor often explains that this is why a Christian never has to wonder whether the Spirit is at work on any given Sunday: when the Word is preached, when baptism is administered, when sins are forgiven from the pulpit, when the body and blood of Christ are received at the altar, the Spirit is always present, attaching His promise to ordinary water, bread, wine, and spoken words.
The congregation also holds to the Book of Concord, the collection of Lutheran Confessions written during the Reformation, because it accurately describes the teaching of Scripture. The Athanasian Creed is one of the three ecumenical creeds that the congregation confesses, and the pastor has walked through it line by line in a sermon series, explaining the careful language about the Trinity, the incarnation, and the resurrection of the body.
What the Church Believes About Human Life
First Lutheran's statement of faith includes clear convictions about marriage, sexuality, and the dignity of human life. The congregation believes that all human life, from conception to natural death, is sacred, precious, and to be protected. It teaches that the basis of the family is the lifelong marriage of a man and a woman, and that sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, and cohabitation are contrary to God's will. At the same time, the congregation follows the historic Lutheran practice of treating those who struggle with sin as people for whom Christ died, offering the Gospel to all without condition while holding to the teaching of Scripture.
Christians, the church teaches, are called to live their faith through deeds of love toward others and to tell people that the only way to salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ.
The Pastor and the Vicar
James Huenink became the pastor of First Lutheran in November 2021. A graduate of Concordia University Wisconsin and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, he spent his first thirteen years of ministry in the Chicago area before moving west with his wife Kristan. In his free time he enjoys photography, researching Lutheran history, writing, and cooking. His sermons at First Lutheran tend to work patiently through a single text and connect it to the historic creeds, often drawing on the Small Catechism, the Athanasian Creed, and the Nicene Creed to show how Scripture teaches the Trinity, the work of Christ, and the means of grace.
Roland Rossmiller serves as vicar, training to become a pastor through the Specific Ministry Pastor program. He and his wife Kay were members and volunteers at First Lutheran for many years before he began this training, and he now works in visitation and outreach when he is not taking classes. He has preached several sermons at the congregation, including Easter and Lenten services.
Children, Youth, and College
Kathleen Vaughn directs the children, youth, and college ministry at First Lutheran. She began as a volunteer Sunday School teacher and Vacation Bible School leader, joined the staff in 2003 in children's ministry, and added the youth ministry in 2014. Her goal is to help kids develop their own personal relationship with Jesus, whether they were baptized as infants or come to faith later in childhood.
The Sunday School meets at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings, and the youth ministry extends into the week with a College Group that meets on Tuesdays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. The pastor often reminds parents and youth that children belong in the divine service with their families, and that the noise of children is the sound of a living congregation.
The Preschool on the Campus
First Lutheran Preschool has been running since the 1990s and now occupies its own building on the church campus. Mona VanDeweghe directs the preschool, which shares the same Lincoln Avenue address as the church. The preschool is a long-running community ministry of the congregation, reflecting the church's commitment to helping young families in east county. Families interested in the preschool can reach it directly at (619) 444-0559.
Men's and Women's Bible Studies
The congregation hosts a full week of small-group Bible study for adults. On Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m., the Women's Bible Study gathers for teaching and prayer. On Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m., the Men's Bible Study meets to work through Scripture together. Two monthly fellowship gatherings supplement the studies: a Men's Breakfast on the first Saturday of each month at 8:00 a.m. and a Ladies in Mission Brunch on the second Saturday at 10:00 a.m. The Ladies Lunch Out takes place on the last Thursday of each month. These groups are open to anyone who wants to dig deeper into the Bible alongside others from the congregation.
A History Rooted in El Cajon's Growth
When First Lutheran was founded, El Cajon was a rural farming community of orange groves and open land, very different from the suburban city it has become. The original sanctuary was built on a hill, a small white building with a cross that is still visible from the current campus parking lot. As the congregation grew, it eventually outgrew that building and moved down to the present campus on South Lincoln Avenue, where it built a larger sanctuary and added a preschool building in the 1990s. Members who have been at First Lutheran for decades remember Vacation Bible School weeks, generations of Sunday School classes, and the pastors who have served the church over the years.
As the congregation has looked back over eight decades, the pastor has reminded the people that the church has always adapted as the community around it changed, while holding to the same confession of Christ and the same means of grace. The 80th anniversary ice cream social in 2026 was a celebration of that continuity.
Welcoming the Neighbors Who Are Different
El Cajon has long been a home for immigrants and refugees, and the pastor has preached openly about the church's call to welcome newcomers in the name of Christ. The community surrounding the church includes Chaldean, Syrian, Afghan, and other immigrant families, along with a long-standing Muslim presence. The congregation has entered into a partnership with a group that serves Afghan immigrants, and the pastor has spoken publicly about what it would mean if those neighbors began walking through the church's doors. He has pointed to the example of an inner-city Lutheran congregation that welcomed a sudden wave of Liberian immigrants and had to learn how to make the new arrivals feel at home rather than simply expecting them to fit in.
This kind of cross-cultural outreach is rooted in the conviction that the grace of God is not partial. In a sermon on the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, the pastor pointed out that the kingdom of heaven does not work like an hourly wage: those who come to Christ on their deathbed receive the same gift as those who have belonged to the church all their lives. The church's outreach to its immigrant neighbors is shaped by that truth.
Cross-Cultural Ministry in Practice
The pastor has been honest about how hard this work is. Drawing on Eric Law's book The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb, he has noted that American congregations tend to operate with low hierarchy and high access to power, expecting newcomers to volunteer, speak up, and take initiative. Many immigrant communities operate differently, waiting to be invited before stepping forward. If First Lutheran is to welcome Muslims, Afghans, Chaldeans, and others across cultural lines, the pastor has said, the congregation will have to learn how to welcome people in ways that they themselves experience as welcome, not merely in ways that feel hospitable to the existing members. The church, he has said, must ask what it means to empower new arrivals to take an equal share in the kingdom of God.
Why the Congregation Says Grace Alone
One of the recurring themes in the pastor's preaching is the danger of turning the Gospel into a new law. Lutherans, he has pointed out, confess that salvation is a free gift, won by Christ and delivered through Word and Sacrament. The temptation in every congregation, however, is to follow the Gospel with an unspoken "or else." Read your Bible, or else. Pray, or else. Volunteer, or else. The pastor has warned against using obedience as a test for faith, because that approach turns Christianity back into a system of performance rather than a relationship of grace. Instead, he has said, the Holy Spirit changes the desires of believers so that they want to do what God commands; they offer rides to fellow members, set up hospitality for coffee and snacks, and serve one another not because they have been whipped into it but because the Spirit has given them new hearts.
This is why the congregation resists what the pastor calls fear-based outreach. Outreach that comes from a desire to preserve the institution, fill the budget, or keep the pews from emptying ends up hiding the very thing that makes the church distinctive: the free grace of God in Jesus Christ. Outreach that flows from the compassion of Christ, by contrast, looks outward at a harassed and helpless world and says simply, "They need a Savior."
The Great Exchange at the Center of Everything
If there is a single theological idea that runs through First Lutheran's preaching, it is the great exchange: the righteous Christ dies for the sinful, and the sinner goes free. In a sermon on Barabbas, the pastor pointed out that the notorious prisoner whom Pilate released was a rebel and a murderer, while Jesus, called the Christ, had only healed, taught, and proclaimed the kingdom. The crowd chose Barabbas anyway. Yet the very exchange that seemed like injustice is the heart of the Gospel: the guilty go free, and the innocent takes their place. When the crowd cried out, "His blood be on us and on our children," they were not invoking a curse; they were claiming a cleansing. The blood of Christ does not condemn; it washes clean. Every Sunday, when the congregation comes forward to eat Christ's body and drink His blood, they are praying that prayer over themselves again.
The same exchange shapes how the church speaks about sin and forgiveness in the congregation. In a sermon on the Office of the Keys, the pastor urged the people to use the Christian words "I forgive you" rather than the cultural phrase "it's okay." Sin is not okay; it cost Jesus His life. But when a Christian says "I forgive you," they are not merely waving the hurt away; they are applying the actual promise of Christ to the wound. That kind of forgiveness, the pastor said, can be one of the church's most powerful witnesses to a watching world.
The Sacrament of the Altar
Holy Communion is at the center of life at First Lutheran. The pastor has preached several sermons on the Lord's Supper, drawing on the Road to Emmaus story in Luke 24, in which the risen Christ was recognized by two disciples "in the breaking of the bread." The Emmaus account, he has argued, is not merely a story about Jesus appearing to two disciples; it is a window into how the church still meets the risen Christ. When the pastor takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it, and when the congregation receives the body and blood of Christ, the same Jesus who vanished from the Emmaus disciples is present on this altar. His body can be in many places at once because He is also the Son of God, and the words "This is my body, given for you" carry the full promise of the crucifixion and the empty tomb.
This is why the congregation takes closed communion seriously. Because the Supper is the true body and blood of Christ given for the forgiveness of sins, it is also an expression of doctrinal agreement. Members of other LCMS congregations in fellowship with First Lutheran are invited to commune, and others are encouraged to speak with the pastor about joining the congregation or an LCMS church nearby before taking the sacrament.
The Resurrection of the Body
On Easter Sunday, the pastor preached on the bodily resurrection of Jesus from Matthew 28. He pointed to the small but significant detail that the women at the empty tomb "took hold of his feet and worshiped him." In the ancient world, ghosts and spirits did not have feet; only embodied beings did. By grabbing Jesus's feet, the women showed that He had risen not as a spirit but as a living human being, body and soul. The pastor connected that detail to the closing words of the Nicene Creed: "the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." Christians are not just souls waiting to escape their bodies; they are embodied people whose very bodies will be raised, just as Jesus's body was raised. The same body that goes into the grave will come out, glorified and whole.
This hope shapes how the congregation grieves and how it comforts one another at funerals. The pastor has reminded members that the body buried today is the body that will be raised on the last day, and that the resurrection bodies will be recognizable, personal, and perfect, never to die again.
Sermons Online and on the Airwaves
First Lutheran has invested in sharing its preaching beyond the sanctuary. Every Sunday sermon is recorded and posted to the church's YouTube channel, and the audio is also distributed as a podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The church has been working through a long series on the Nicene Creed, walking line by line through the Trinity, the incarnation, the work of Christ, the descent into hell, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come. Other recent sermon series have explored the Athanasian Creed, the Office of the Keys, the Ascension, and the work of the Holy Spirit through the means of grace. The sermon archive goes back several years and includes sermons for every major festival of the church year.
Office and Giving
The church office at 867 South Lincoln Avenue is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Visitors and members can call the office at (619) 444-7444 during those hours or email admin@youhaveaplace.com at any time. Online giving is available with options for one-time, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual gifts, and the option to cover the processing fees on top of the donation.
Reaching the Pastor
Anyone interested in learning more about First Lutheran, becoming a member, or arranging a baptism, wedding, or funeral is encouraged to email Pastor James Huenink directly at pastorhuenink@youhaveaplace.com. The pastor is glad to meet with newcomers to talk through their faith background and walk them through the membership classes that lead into the life of the congregation.
A Church on the Hill and a Church on the Plain
From its current campus on South Lincoln Avenue, the original white church building is still visible up on the hill behind it, a reminder that First Lutheran's story reaches back to the days when El Cajon was a rural outpost of orange groves. Eighty years on, the congregation continues to gather around Word and Sacrament in the same Lutheran confession its founders brought to this corner of east county, looking outward to a neighborhood that has changed dramatically and inward to a Christ who does not change. The pastor likes to remind the people that this is what the church is for: not programs, not personalities, not nostalgia, but the steady preaching of the Gospel and the patient administration of the means of grace, until the day when Christ returns to raise the dead and give His people eternal life.