A Sanctuary on Gill Road
St. John Lutheran Church sits on a quiet stretch of Gill Road in Farmington Hills, Michigan, in a brick building that has served the surrounding neighborhood for decades. The congregation identifies itself with a single sentence that hangs above nearly every page of its materials: We are called by Christ to be a Sanctuary that Welcomes and Serves All. That sentence is more than a tagline. It is the operating brief for a community that has built a nursing home visitation program, a therapeutic garden for adults with disabilities, a free tutoring ministry, and a speaker series on peacemaking, all in the space of a few years.
The church belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and is part of the SEMI Synod. It describes itself as a community of faith that believes in a loving God evidenced by Jesus Christ, historical and living, and it sees science and faith as valued partners in helping people understand life's meaning. St. John welcomes young and old; families, couples, and singles; rich and poor; persons of all races, ethnicities, backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities, along with those of differing physical and mental abilities, as well as believers and seekers.
Sunday Worship: Liturgical and Open to All
Sunday worship takes place at 10:00 am in the sanctuary. The service follows the classic Lutheran pattern of Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending. Prayers, readings, music, a message, and Holy Communion are all part of the flow, with hymns and responses projected on a screen so visitors can follow along. All are welcome to participate in communion; the congregation teaches that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine and does not withhold the sacrament from anyone who wishes to partake.
There is no dress code. The congregation likes to put it this way: God will be happy to see you, no matter what you're wearing. And so will we. Visitors are greeted warmly when they arrive but are not put on the spot; introducing yourself is optional. The pastor or worship leader will cue the congregation when to sit and stand, and anyone who has difficulty standing is welcome to remain seated. Some members make the sign of the cross in remembrance of baptism; visitors may do the same or not, as they prefer.
Children are a full part of the assembly. After a brief Children's Message, the young ones are excused to Sunday School, where they return after the sermon to continue learning together about God's love and living as Christ taught us. Stories from the Bible, folktales, historical events and figures, and modern-day examples help kids recognize the spirit of God active in the world around them. A narthex nursery with toys and books is also available for parents who want a quieter space with their children.
For those unable to attend in person, the service is broadcast on Zoom and on the church's Facebook page, with a recording posted later to its YouTube channel. Online worshippers are encouraged to have a bit of bread or a cracker, along with wine or juice, ready so they can join in the sacrament from home. After the service, the Zoom stays open for a friendly virtual coffee hour.
Pathways in Compassion: The Ministry That Put St. John on the Map
If St. John has a signature ministry, it is Pathways in Compassion, a nursing home visitation program created by Pastor Mark Fisher. Approximately half of all people living in nursing homes have essentially been abandoned; they have no visitors and no one to advocate for them. Pathways matches volunteers with residents who do not have regular visitors, so that the volunteers can sit with them, listen, pray with them, and offer consistent human presence.
Pastor Mark first developed the program while serving as pastor at Transfiguration Lutheran Church in Fenton, Michigan, where he realized how many seniors in local facilities had no one. Pathways in Compassion is now the core of St. John's outreach: a team of congregants regularly visits about twenty residents at the Medilodge facility at the end of Gill Street. Volunteers are asked to commit to at least two one-hour visits per month, training is provided, and the church has made the program portable, offering a free downloadable booklet and step-by-step guide so other congregations can launch their own Pathways team. Visitors develop empathy, compassion, and responsibility; residents gain emotional support, mental stimulation, a sense of belonging, and another pair of eyes watching for health changes.
The church has broadened its work with the elderly and people with disabilities through St. John House, a small group home in the former parsonage that now houses three men with developmental disabilities under the care of Community Living Centers. Members of St. John meet regularly with the residents for monthly activities.
God's Garden and Yard to Table
On the south side of the church sits God's Garden, a small plot tended for more than a decade by St. John volunteers. In its earliest years the garden produced food for organizations addressing food insecurity, served as an outdoor classroom for children, and gave neighbors a place to walk their dogs. Beginning in 2025, St. John partnered with Community Living Centers to offer therapeutic gardening sessions for adults with physical and developmental disabilities. Sessions are held on Wednesdays at 10:00 am and 4:00 pm, and gardening experience is not required of volunteers.
Yard to Table is the church's broader gardening community, open to the whole neighborhood. Weekly Wednesday gatherings from 6:00 to 8:00 pm begin with service in the garden, move into reflection, and finish with a shared meal and fellowship. On some Wednesdays a Garden Skills class is offered, covering topics such as planting basics, container gardening, composting, pesto making, cover crops, sheet mulching, and putting the garden to bed. Annual events include a spring Garden Swap, where neighbors share perennials, seeds, tools, and books.
Speaking Peace: A Speaker Series on Community
Several times a year, St. John hosts Speaking Peace, an evening speaker series that brings in people working for the well-being of the wider community. Each event begins with a light meal at 6:00 pm, followed by a presentation and Q&A. Child care can be provided on request. The series reflects the congregation's five stated values (compassion, mercy, justice, forgiveness, and grace) and the conviction that followers of Jesus are called to extend those values into public life.
Past speakers have included the Director of Lighthouse of North Oakland on sharing hope with people struggling in the county; a Healing and Community Justice Director for Centro Multicultural La Familia on immigrant justice and inclusion; the Director of Micah 6 Community in Pontiac, who told how a college student's sense of call grew into a neighborhood resource center; and the Mayor of Pontiac, who spoke on the importance of understanding local history. The series is free and open to all.
Fourth Fridays, First Thursdays, and Other Fellowship
St. John takes fellowship seriously and has given it several recurring shapes. The Fourth Friday of every month brings a 6:00 pm potluck meal, with the food theme rotating through countries such as Ireland, China, India, Spain, Italy, and Japan. Guests are welcome to come empty-handed; bringing a dish is encouraged but never required, and homemade is not expected.
The First Thursday of every month is a 6:00 pm fellowship gathering in the MPR, with members asked to bring a dish to share, a beverage, and friends. Women of St. John meet twice monthly for brunch and conversation: on the second Wednesday at 10:00 am and on the fourth Monday at 10:00 am, both at Blue Hat Coffee in downtown Farmington. Men of St. John gather at L. George's Restaurant (24250 Sinacola, near Grand River and M-5) every Thursday at 7:00 am for fellowship, with breakfast and a Bible study at 8:00 am.
Spiritual Development: Bible Study, Small Groups, and Gifts
Pastor Mark leads a Thursday Bible study at 10:00 am in the conference room, walking through the texts that will be heard in the following Sunday's worship. Periodically the church offers Small Group Ministry, in which groups of eight to ten people gather to discuss matters of life and faith, learning from each other's views and experiences. The church also encourages members to discover their own gifts through conversation with members of its Leadership Team.
Seasonal programs include A Watered Garden, a Lenten series in which participants read and discuss a short book on Christian worship and earth's ecology, gathering on Wednesdays in the MPR for soup and reflection.
Children, Youth, and the Arts
Beyond Sunday School, St. John runs Create and Care Camp each summer. The half-day camp, held the third week of July from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm, welcomes children entering first through sixth grade. Each day has a theme (such as Made from Earth, Created for Connection, and Harvest Time) illustrated by story time, an adventure in the garden, and an art project, with a snack in between. Older youth and adults serve as helpers. Tuition is kept low, and no-questions-asked scholarships are available.
Hearts, Hands and Voices is a worship and fine arts program for young people in grades two through seven from across the region. It meets on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 pm during the academic year and gathers for a week-long summer camp. Through hands-on experiences, the program seeks to give lifelong tools for creating, appreciating, and sharing the arts, participating in worship, and leading enriched lives.
Care for One Another
St. John takes seriously the Christian call to look after its own. An Outreach Team contacts each member about once a month, simply to keep in touch and check in. A Prayer Team receives texts or calls when someone has asked for prayer and lifts those names up regularly. Eucharistic Ministers make monthly visits to homebound members of the congregation to bring Communion and a friendly chat. A Prayer Shawl Ministry knits and crochets shawls that are given to anyone (member or not) who needs comfort and a reminder of God's love; current members will teach newcomers the craft. When a funeral takes place, a Funeral Luncheon team helps the bereaved family share a meal in the MPR right after the service, with team members setting up, serving, and cleaning up on short notice.
Outreach Beyond the Building
St. John partners with several local and global ministries. Members support CARES of Farmington Hills by purchasing and delivering items for families in the area who lack access to everyday necessities. The congregation joins the annual Farmington Area CROP Walk, both as walkers and as supporters. Four times a year the church hosts a Red Cross Blood Drive. Each year the congregation assembles about 100 School Kits and 100 Personal Care Kits for Lutheran World Relief and ships them in October, while a Quilters group makes quilts year-round for the same destination. Each holiday season the Adopt-a-Family Bell Tree goes up right after Thanksgiving: members take a bell, buy a gift, and return it for someone in need.
A free tutoring program is offered to children in grades one through six, with one-hour weekly sessions in reading or math from trained volunteer tutors. Tutors are always needed.
The Building, AA Meetings, and Visitors
The church building houses Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on Sundays at 4:00 pm in the MPR. The congregation also makes its facility available for outside group use; those interested can download a Facility Use Application and an Equipment Space Request from the church.
The office is open Monday through Thursday from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, with Marie Cook, the Office Manager, available to answer questions. The church can be reached by phone at 248-474-0584 or by email at om@stjohn-elca.org. Giving can be done online, by mail, or by placing a gift in the plate on Sunday; donations of stock or other assets are also accepted. Recordings of services and Pastor Mark's sermons are available on the St. John YouTube channel, and the livestream can be joined on Zoom or the church's Facebook page.
Visitors looking for a first step are warmly invited to show up on a Sunday morning, in the pews or online; to walk the garden trail at God's Garden; to drop in on a Thursday Bible study or a First Thursday potluck; or to ask about joining the Pathways in Compassion team. Every person joining the community adds profound value to the mystery of faith, the church teaches. There is room at St. John for anyone who wants to come and see.