Mount Tabor Lutheran Church sits at 175 South 700 East, just a few blocks from downtown Salt Lake City and within easy reach of both the bus line and the TRAX system. The congregation gathers at a single site each Sunday for Holy Communion worship and spends much of the rest of the week feeding, housing, and advocating for neighbors across the valley. A member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Rocky Mountain Synod, Mount Tabor is also a Reconciling in Christ congregation, publicly affirming the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the life of the church.
A Hundred-Plus-Year Story That Began with Danish Missionaries
Mount Tabor's roots stretch back to the early years of the last century. Planning for the first Mount Tabor structure began before 1902, when the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church raised funds overseas and sent missionaries to Utah. Harold Jensen, a native of Tvilumgaard, Denmark, came to Salt Lake City and in 1907 began reaching out to both old and new Lutherans while starting to build the first church. The state Church of Denmark furnished nearly $15,000 to purchase property, and the original Mount Tabor Lutheran Church at First Avenue and E Street was formally dedicated in August 1911. That early structure still stands but is no longer used as a church.
By 1960, with membership at about 400, the congregation purchased an acre at the current location and built the building members know today. Architect and congregation member Charles D. Peterson designed the distinctive round church, which was dedicated in 1965 by then Pastor Arthur V. Sorenson. In 1996, under the leadership of Pastor Grant Aaseng, Mount Tabor added fellowship and entrance areas, office space, classrooms, and improved handicap accessibility. The round sanctuary remains the heart of the building, and a planning process is underway for a Tabor Community Garden on the north lawn.
Sunday Worship at the Round Church
Holy Communion worship is held every Sunday at 10:30 AM at 175 South 700 East. The service is rooted in the liturgical traditions of the ELCA, drawing on a variety of settings across the church year, with music playing a meaningful role in the experience. The Worship and Music Ministry Team meets monthly to plan for the seasons ahead, choose hymns, and explore how scripture, prayer, and the rhythms of the church year can shape each Sunday. Visitors can also join the service online through a livestream on YouTube, and Sunday bulletins are posted in advance.
The congregation describes worship with the phrase round table of grace: a community where members share the Eucharist and are renewed and restored through Christ's body and blood. All are welcome at the table.
Pastor Christine and the Bridge Ministry
Mount Tabor is currently served by Pastor Christine Higueria-Street, a lifelong Lutheran who came out of retirement to walk with the congregation during a pastoral transition. Originally from San Diego, she earned an Associate of Arts in Social Science from San Diego Mesa College, a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from California Lutheran University, and a Master of Divinity from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley. Her internship was at Angelica Lutheran Church in Los Angeles, and she completed Clinical Pastoral Education at Mercy Hospital in San Diego.
Before moving to Utah in 2015 to serve St. Matthew's in Taylorsville as a redeveloper, she served in nearly every lay role imaginable - lector, worship assistant, Sunday school teacher, contemplative prayer partner, women's circle leader, pre-confirmation teacher, and adult education facilitator - before answering a call that came later than she expected. Alongside her work at Mount Tabor, she serves as a Transition Coach for the Rocky Mountain Synod, a Convocator at California Lutheran University, and a board member for Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City. She is also trained to facilitate Prepare/Enrich for couples.
The music program is led by Music Minister Bob Brown. Kylie Jones-Greenwood serves the congregation as it walks alongside her through the TEEM (Theological Education for Emerging Ministries) path toward ordination as an ELCA minister, and she contributes to worship planning as the Ministry Assistant.
Reconciling in Christ and a Statement of Welcome
Mount Tabor is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, an identity rooted in the work of ReconcilingWorks, which has advocated since 1974 for the full welcome, inclusion, and equity of LGBTQIA+ Lutherans in every aspect of church life. The congregation's own statement of welcome and inclusion is shared publicly. Mount Tabor describes itself as a welcoming, compassionate community living God's love through faithful worship and active service in the world, seeking to proclaim God's promises of love, grace, and salvation for all humankind; welcome all to walk in Christ's love, hope, and joy, especially those who have felt excluded; gather in worship and song; and serve the community and the world by offering time, talents, and treasures to bring about God's healing and justice.
Serving Hungry and Homeless Neighbors Across Salt Lake
Service to neighbors facing hunger, homelessness, and addiction runs through nearly everything Mount Tabor does. The congregation partners with a long list of community organizations:
- Crossroads Urban Center - supporting their food banks with donations of needed supplies and providing them a large meeting space.
- Family Promise Salt Lake - cooking and serving dinners (and weekend brunch) for families staying at the Family Promise site at Christ United Methodist Church.
- St. Vincent de Paul - Weigand Center Dinner at Vinny's - monthly dinners served downtown to homeless neighbors.
- Utah Food Bank - monthly food-sorting volunteer shifts.
- Senior Food Box Distribution - distributing USDA food boxes to seniors in the surrounding neighborhood each month.
- FACE Hunger and Homelessness - advocacy with local and state officials on hunger, homelessness, and poverty policy.
- 12 Step Meetings for Recovery and Support - hosting recovery and support groups in the church building and providing a safe, accessible space for them to gather.
The congregation also provides emergency assistance to members facing food insecurity and homelessness, and volunteers advocate for policy changes that will get kids and their families off the street for good. A long-term aspiration is to use the church building to offer safe, emergency housing for families.
+One Interconnected Community
+One is Mount Tabor's framework for expanding the circle of service beyond the existing congregation. Rather than beginning with worship invitations, +One invites each member to bring along one more person - a friend, a child, a relative - for short-term, small-group service projects. The goal is to grow the service community with small commitments, using time and talents in new ways, and then gather the whole +One community for gratitude meals when projects are complete.
Music, Learning, and Support for Members on the Path to Ministry
Music is a core part of life at Mount Tabor. The Worship and Music Ministry Team digs into the church calendar, revisits old hymns and discovers new ones, and asks questions about why the congregation worships the way it does. No musical training is required to join the team; curiosity and opinions about hymns are more than enough.
Each year, the Endowments and Memorials Committee offers the Tabor Scholarship to active members beginning or continuing post-high-school education. Applications are posted on the congregation's online materials and submitted to the office.
The congregation has also committed to walk alongside Kylie Jones-Greenwood through the ELCA's TEEM program as she works toward ordination. A special appeal has been set up so that gifts given during the campaign window are matched by an individual donor, with the funds supporting Kylie and her family during her studies.
Visiting Mount Tabor
First-time visitors can expect a traditional, liturgical Holy Communion service on Sunday morning at 10:30 AM in the round sanctuary at 175 South 700 East. The building is on the bus line and near TRAX, and accessibility improvements added in 1996 make the facility wheelchair-friendly. Members come from across the Salt Lake Valley, and the congregation's identity as a Reconciling in Christ congregation is a clear signal that LGBTQIA+ visitors, those who have felt excluded elsewhere, and anyone curious about Lutheran worship will find a place at the table. For those unable to attend in person, services are livestreamed on YouTube and bulletins are posted online. Giving is available online as well, with options for one-time and recurring gifts.
Beliefs in Brief
Mount Tabor teaches that salvation is by grace through faith, a gift of God rather than a result of works, and grounds its life in the two great commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. Worship is shaped by the church year, the Eucharist is celebrated weekly, and the congregation understands itself as a community called to share in God's love, mourn with those who sorrow, and serve those who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, or imprisoned - bringing time, talents, and treasures to bear on God's healing and justice in the world.