Tucked at the corner of El Monte Avenue and Cuesta Drive in Los Altos, California, Los Altos Lutheran Church has made its home in the heart of the Peninsula for decades. The congregation describes itself with the phrase "Rejoicing in the Word + Sent in the Spirit," a motto that captures both the centered, Scripture-rooted worship on Sunday mornings and the steady stream of care that flows out into the surrounding community during the week.
Sunday Worship at Ten
The week at Los Altos Lutheran revolves around a single Sunday service. Worship begins at 10:00 a.m. and is offered both in person and online through the congregation's YouTube channel, "LALC Worship." The service follows a four-part liturgical shape: gathering, word, meal, and sending. The community gathers by the calling of the Holy Spirit, hears God speak through Scripture, song, preaching, and prayer, receives grace at the table of bread and wine, and is sent out to share God's love in the world.
Communion is celebrated every Sunday, and everyone present, including children, is invited to share in the meal. The printed bulletin walks worshipers through each portion of the service with readings, hymns, and prayers printed out, so first-time visitors can follow along easily. For those joining from home, the congregation encourages setting out bread and wine for an at-home communion, a practice the church grounds in Martin Luther's insistence that what makes the sacrament real is the promise of God, not the prayers of any priest.
Music at the Heart of the Service
Music is woven deeply into the life of Los Altos Lutheran. The Sunday service is led by organ, keyboard, and choir, with additional music from the handbell ensemble and frequent visits from guest musicians. The congregation sees this emphasis as thoroughly Lutheran: Martin Luther himself spread the Reformation through popular song, and Lutheran composers from J.S. Bach onward have shaped music around the world.
Lynda Alexander directs the music program as Music Director and Organist. A graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis and Mills College in Oakland, with doctoral work at Stanford, Alexander is a long-time member of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. Two ensembles call the church home:
- Rejoicing Ringers, the handbell choir, rehearses on Tuesday mornings at 11:30. Using three-octave sets of Malmark handbells and chimes, the group plays in worship and has performed at the annual Bay Area Spring Ring Handbell Festival in Cupertino, as well as concerts at a Palo Alto church. The ringers also bring music to the congregation's Christmas party and Fourth of July picnic.
- Chancel Choir / Ensemble rehearses on Tuesday evenings at 7:15. New singers are welcome; interested members can contact the church office or Alexander directly.
A Lutheran Reading of the Christian Faith
Los Altos Lutheran belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and traces its identity to the Reformation insights of Martin Luther. The congregation takes Scripture seriously, though not literally, treating the Bible as a library of writings shaped by their cultures and languages yet also transcending them. Worship is understood less as performing a ritual for God and more as receiving a message: God speaking through preaching, music, prayer, and sacrament.
The church's statement of belief is anchored in a few core convictions. God is a presence at the heart of existence who cares for, speaks to, and works in the world. Jesus of Nazareth, a first-century Palestinian teacher, is, from the perspective of faith, the embodiment of that presence; to see Jesus is to see who God is. Faith itself is described not as intellectual agreement with propositions but as a trusting response to God. Worship is sometimes formal and sometimes casual, and often both; what matters is the message of grace that the liturgy carries.
A Congregation with a Wide Door
The motto "a welcoming place for all" is taken seriously. The congregation's mission statement reads: "To proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, creating faith and enriching lives to build a welcoming place for all." Children are present in worship, communion is open to everyone who wishes to receive it, and visitors are greeted alongside long-time members each Sunday morning.
The church office is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to noon, and the building at 460 South El Monte Avenue is easy to find: from Interstate 280, El Monte Avenue is reached by taking Cuesta Drive, the second light after Foothill Expressway; the church sits on the left. From El Camino Real, drivers turn onto El Monte Avenue, bear right at the Springer Road fork, and continue about a mile; the church appears on the right at the El Monte and Cuesta stoplight.
Encompass Ministry and the Personal Care Café
The most visible outreach arm of Los Altos Lutheran is its partnership with Encompass Ministry, an organization based in Santa Clara that assists neighbors who have been displaced. Coordinated by Pastor Jim Clark-Moore of Hope Lutheran Church in Santa Clara, Encompass hosts a "Personal Care Café" twice a month where hygiene products are distributed.
The congregation collects donations to keep that café stocked. A wooden box in the church entryway receives new, unused items such as soap, shampoo and conditioner, feminine care products, toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant, dark socks, underwear, face masks, scarves, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, razors and spare blades, towels, sheets, pillows, pants, shoes, warm clothing, ponchos, backpacks, luggage, calendars, undershirts, and Bibles. The church also gathers individually wrapped tea bags, sometimes packaged into sandwich bags with sugar and a stir stick, to be handed out alongside a hot drink.
Donations may be directed to Encompass through the congregation's online giving page, where gifts can be designated for that specific ministry.
Meals for Veterans and Their Families
A second long-standing outreach is the Monthly Meal Ministry. Volunteers from Los Altos Lutheran cook and serve dinners once a month at the Fisher House on the campus of the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto. Fisher Houses provide free housing to veterans and their families while a loved one is hospitalized; each family has a private suite and shares a common kitchen, laundry, dining room, and living room. Church members rotate through the kitchen and the conversation, both the cooking and the company are part of the gift.
Partners Near and Far
Beyond its own outreach, Los Altos Lutheran financially supports a number of ministries and partner organizations. Mount Cross Lutheran Outdoor Ministries, located in the Santa Cruz mountains near Felton, runs outdoor camp and retreat programs and receives direct funding from the congregation. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Lutheran Disaster Response (an ELCA effort), and the Valley Medical Center Foundation round out the church's slate of mission partners.
The Building on El Monte
The Los Altos Lutheran campus houses a sanctuary, a fellowship hall, and classrooms, and the congregation makes those spaces available to the wider community. Non-profit and charitable organizations are the preferred users, and activities related to music, the arts, education, children, or family are especially welcome. Facility use requires a completed request form, a certificate of insurance, and four to six weeks for review; the church's own programs always take priority.
The sanctuary and fellowship hall are also offered for memorial services, with the church describing such gatherings as a chance to share grief, support one another in loss, and hear God's promise of grace and life.
Getting Involved
Volunteers are the backbone of Sunday morning at Los Altos Lutheran. The church regularly calls for coffee hosts to brew and serve coffee and pastries after the 10:00 service, and for tech crew members to run cameras and record the service for online viewers. Other service roles include assisting minister, lector, usher, Church Council, and Community Engagement. Anyone interested in joining a ministry team is invited to contact the church office.
Staying Connected
For those who cannot be present in person, the Sunday service is livestreamed on the LALC Worship YouTube channel and the weekly bulletin is posted online. The congregation also publishes a monthly newsletter that highlights church news, upcoming events, and ministry updates. Electronic giving is available through the congregation's secure online giving page for one-time gifts or recurring support.
Whether someone arrives at 460 South El Monte Avenue on a Sunday morning, tunes in from home, drops off a bag of toiletries at the entryway box, or joins a team cooking dinner at the Fisher House, the path through Los Altos Lutheran leads to the same place: a community gathered by grace and sent out again to share it.