Ministries

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church offers a wide array of ministries and ways to get involved. Among them are the following:

Chinese Ministry: A ministry of St. Paul for Chinese speaking families.

Evansville Lutheran School: Evansville Lutheran School (ELS) provides all day kindergarten through 8th grade classes.

Youth Ministry: St. Paul’s has an active Jr. High youth group called the Tweenagers as well as an active Sr. High youth group called the SPYgroup.

Music Ministry: The Lutheran church has always welcomed music in worship as a way to serve the One who has first served us.

Marriage Ministry: St. Paul’s is committed to building strong marriages in Christ by providing resources, educational opportunities, and retreats for engaged and married couples.

Ladies Guild - LWML: This ladies group serves in a variety of ways in our congregation, community, and world.

Lutheran Community Outreach Center Food Pantry: This volunteer organization has been sharing Christ’s love with our community by providing food to those in need for over 40 years and is one of the largest food pantries in the Evansville area.

Vacation Bible School: This one week long program teaches about God’s love for us in Jesus to the children of our church as well as in the community around St. Paul’s.

Lutherans for Habitat: We help build homes in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

Chinese Mission

The Chinese Mission at St. Paul’s was begun in 2011 and reaches numerous Chinese families, including children, originally from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. An average of 25-35 people worship next door to St. Paul’s at the Lutheran Community Outreach Center each Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. Bible study and fellowship opportunities are offered on a weekly and monthly basis.

On Sunday February 27, 2011, Reverend Dr. Michael Paul was installed as Associate Pastor - Missions, with focus on outreach to the Chinese community in Evansville. In September 2014 Pastor Paul accepted a call from the LCMS Board of International Missions to serve as a Missionary - Theological Educator in Asia.

Pastor Tich Luu accepted our call in July 2015 to serve as Associate Pastor - Missions. Since his arrival, many other mission opportunities have been developed, including: a weekly Sunday afternoon Chinese school held at St. Paul’s, an after school care program held in church facility in Newburgh that includes Bible teachings, as well as a 5 week summer camp also held in the Newburgh facility.

Contact Pastor Luu

Evansville Lutheran School (ELS) provides all day kindergarten through 8th grade classes. You can visit the ELS website or you may call at (812) 424-7252. ELS offers, change to “ELS provides a superior education, guided by Lutheran principles, in an environment of Christian love. Our students are equipped to go forward in life with Christ.

Visit ELS Website

‍Youth Ministry

‍Our youth groups exists to strengthen the faith of all participants through routine study of God’s Word and through activities and events that promote positive fellowship and leadership. We are all about having fun and building long-lasting relationships, but more importantly we are focused on strengthening our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

‍Tweenagers meet regularly throughout the year for a variety of activities and events. Once a year they attend the Indiana District Jr. High Retreat at Camp Lakeview in Seymour, Indiana.

‍SPYgroup meets for Sunday afternoon Bible study two times a month and also has 1-2 social activities each month. Every summer they attend the Box Retreat at Camp Lakeview, which is open to all LCMS youth of Evansville. The SPYgroup also attends the LCMS National Youth Gathering every three years.

‍In 2017, in honor of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, The SPYgroup set a goal of performing 500 group service hours in our church and community between Oct. 31, 2016 and Oct. 31, 2017. They reached their goal, amassing 586 group hours, 1840 individual hours, with over 70 different projects and activities.

Music Ministry

The Lutheran church has always welcomed music in worship as a way to serve the One who has first served us. We return thanks to the Triune God by singing and playing instruments. Our music making serves not only as praise, but also as a way to proclaim the Gospel to others and as a way to teach the faith.

Our church continues the Lutheran tradition of singing hymns and songs that proclaim our belief that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8 & 9). St. Paul’s uses the Lutheran Service Book (LSB) as its hymnal. The groups providing music for worship at St. Paul’s are:

Adult Choir: The adult choir meets for practice on Wednesday evenings at 7PM. from Labor Day through Memorial Day. This group is made up of adults and high school students.

Children’s Choir: This choir meets Monday afternoons at 3PM. from September through the end of the school year. It is made up of children in grades 2-8.

Handbell Ringers: The handbell ringers practice on Monday evenings at 7PM. from Labor Day through Memorial Day. The group is open to adults and also to students with some previous musical experience.

In addition to the above groups you are also welcome to serve as a vocal soloist or as an instrumentalist. If you are interested in serving as a musician at St. Paul’s please contact our music director Tim Horst.

Marriage Ministry

Each year, The Marriage Team of St. Paul’s hosts three marriage events led by Pastor Eckels:

The Marriage Matters Retreat @ Burdette Park held on a Saturday in November

The Romantic Rendezvous weekend retreat usually held in the spring at the Gasthof Village in Montgomery, IN

The Milestones Anniversary Dinner, held in July to honor all couples celebrating their 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, etc. years of marriage.

Ladies Guild - LWML

This group meets on a monthly basis for devotions, Bible study, and fellowship. They support many state, national, and global mission projects with their time, talents and mites. Many ladies are active in quilting, making over 200 quilts a year that are sent overseas. They attend local LWML Spring and Fall Rallies, District Retreats and National Conventions.

Lutheran Community Outreach Center Food Pantry

The food pantry is open the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month and serves anywhere from 150-250 individuals or families each distribution date. Those who receive food items are also invited to sit in on a Bible study led by an area LCMS pastor, though it is completely voluntary. Bibles are also made available free of charge to anyone who desires a copy.