Spring Into Action
Come help with spring cleaning at Peace. Help with various projects inside and outside the church building on Saturday April 26 from 9 am–2 pm. Lunch provided. Contact Brendan Nelson with questions.
Altar Guild Folks Needed
Feel called to serve by preparing the Communion elements and helping to decorate the sanctuary for worship? Contact Jeanie Correa
Join the Gospel Choir
Rehearsals are first, second, and third Thursdays at 6 pm. Gospel Choir sings in 11 am worship second and fourth Sundays. Share the gift of your voice in song. Questions? Contact Michael Green
Faith and Labor Coalition
Are you interested in representing Peace by serving on a local Faith and Labor Coalition, lifting up workers’ rights and participating in organized initiatives to support folks who are struggling in our community? Please contact Brendan Nelson or Pastor John.
Peace Cafe and Community Meals
Join us for Peace Cafe’ every Friday beginning at 3 pm. Come hang out with us!
Join us Community Meals 5:30-6:30 pm every Friday.
If you are looking for a place to volunteer, please email Damishe at plcadmin@peacetacoma.org or call the office at (253) 383-1317.
Peace Clothing Closet
Peace clothing closet is open Monday & Friday from 6-7 pm. If you would like to donate items, please contact Jeanie Correa at peaceinreachtacoma@gmail.com.
Peace Lutheran Church Events & Information
Sunday Morning Schedule
8:30 am: Worship
9:30 am: Breakfast & Fellowship
9:45 am: Faith Education Hour
11 am: Worship (also livestreamed), with Refreshments & Fellowship following
Sunday Morning Faith Offerings
We offer in-person opportunities to grow in faith during the Faith Education Hour from 9:45-10:45 am each Sunday:
Godly Play for children ages 4 – 5th grade
Feet to Faith confirmation class for 7th-8th graders
Adult and Older Youth Education class
Questions? Ask Pastor John.
Bread for the World Offering of Letters Sunday April 27
This year’s Offering of Letters focuses on two priorities:
1. Fully funding and strengthening the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) nutrition program in the US.
2. Provide robust funding for global nutrition, which saves millions of lives across the world.
Stay tuned for more background and information, and plan to join us for prayer, learning, and action during the Faith Education Hour April 27. Contact Craig Cogger with questions.
Women of Peace
Save the Date! Peace Women’s Retreat will be May 2-4, 2025, at Seabeck Conference Center. Contact Charissa Carroll for more information.
Docuseries
Our Anti-Racism Work Group is hosting a documentary film and discussion series exploring identity, power, and social justice with special guest facilitators. Free! Snacks provided. Ages 11 and up welcome. Please invite others. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm in the multipurpose room.
May 7: Since I Been Down with director Gilda Sheppard
May 21: Honor Thy Mother with producer Gina Corpuz
June 4: Israelism with Tacoma’s Jewish Voice for Peace
Tacoma Sacred Places Tour
Peace Lutheran Church is participating with seven other congregations in a Tacoma Sacred Places Tour on Saturday May 10 from 1-4 pm. Our building will be open during those hours, and several Council members and church staff will be present to give tours and share information about the history, life, and ministry of Peace Lutheran Church. Invite folks from the community to visit Peace for this tour.
For Such a Time as This
Queen Esther in the Bible faces a rapidly changing political environment threatening devastating consequences for her people. She feels powerless, but her uncle Mordecai urges her not to remain silent because God may have guided her to where she is “for such a time as this.” Are you searching for a place to listen to God and share with others about what it may mean to live as a faithful follower of Jesus now, in America, during such a time of this? If so, contact Lynn Longfield. We will convene a group in late May/early June to begin finding our way forward together.
Ideas for Taking Action in These Challenging Times
Many in the Peace community have reached out to the Anti-Racism Work Group and the church staff asking what we can do during these challenging times in which many vulnerable people in our nation and world are fearful and anxious. In hopes of empowering and encouraging our church family, we are sharing ideas for action we can take to collectively make a huge impact in our community.
Peace Bumper Stickers
Interested in a bumper sticker that says, “I’m at Peace on the Hilltop”? Cost is $5 toward the emergency assistance fund. See Teresa Jackson in the kitchen on Sundays to purchase one!
Immigration Conversation Presentation
Did you miss the after worship conversation when members of the Anti-Racism Work Group led us in a conversation about new policies about immigration, what ICE can and cannot do, what individuals have the right to, and what strategies we can employ as a church body? Check out the presentation here. More info to come.
Anti-Racism Toolkit
We are working on ways to be intentionally inclusive and equitable within our church community and beyond. The Anti-Racism Work Group has developed this anti-racism toolkit to allow all of us to explore concrete ways to weave anti-racist practices into our church life. Please check it out and learn more about it this fall in Sunday Faith Education classes.
Clothing Bank and Community Meals
Community Resources Meals are served Fridays from 5:30-6:30 pm.
Clothing Closet hours are from 6-7 pm on Mondays and Fridays.
Please feel free to call 253-383-1317 or email plcadmin@peacetacoma.org if you have questions or would like to volunteer.
Anti-Racism Book Resource Library
The Anti-Racism Work Group has rolled out a book cart with their recommended anti-racism books to borrow for your personal growth and deeper understanding. Check it out on Sundays in the multipurpose room.
Sunday School (Godly Play) and Children’s Worship
We have Sunday School (Godly Play) for children ages 3 through 4th grade in the basement classroom. We are also offering Nursery for younger children at 9:45 a.m. Children’s Worship is offered in person during 11 a.m. worship. Children are invited to the basement classroom (with air purification) after the scripture readings for a special Godly Play Bible story and response time, and then they will return to the sanctuary to join their family for the time of Holy Communion.
2025 Ministry Plan and Annual Report
If you haven’t seen a copy of these documents distributed at the Annual Congregational Meeting, check them out using the links above or find copies on the table outside the sanctuary. God is doing great things in and through Peace Lutheran Church! Thanks be to God!
Community Bible Study
Pastor John facilitates a Community Bible Study in the church Conference Room and online on Teams (your choice) Thursdays 1-2 pm on the scripture readings for worship the following Sunday. We read scripture, share conversation, and pray as we listen for God to speak to us & through us. Email Pastor John for Teams link. Resumes on May 1.
Christians Concerned with Homelessness
Pray for those who are experiencing homelessness on the first Thursday of the month at the Bryant Neighborhood Center 5:30-6:30 pm.
Interested in Baptism?
Interested in Baptism for yourself or a family member? Please speak with Pastor John.
Future Directions of Peace Lutheran Church
We have been asking, as followers of Jesus, how is God calling us to do God’s work, to love God and love our neighbor, at this time and in this place? A foundational commitment to anti-racism and a group of recommendations have arisen from this Future Directions discernment process.
Please pray for our church as we seek to live out these Future Directions, and please consider how you will “get in where you fit in.”
Peace Community Center Events & Information
Support for Peace Community Center
The Board of Directors of Peace Community Center asks for our community’s continued care, service to students, prayers, and ongoing financial support as we engage the challenging, but necessary work, of building a more sustainable future for Peace Community Center.
Please read the most recent letter from Peace Community Center’s Board of Directors here.
Community Engagement
Neighborhood Event! Annual Earth Day Cleanup
Join your neighbors Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 5:30-7 pm, to help clean and beautify the park, its gardens, the roundabout, and to pick up litter from the streets. See the flyer for details!
Women Build Night Market, May 9, 5-8 pm
Join us Friday, May 9, at Inspired Women Inspire located at the Star Center, 3873 S 66th St, Tacoma, WA 98405. This free night-market event, open to the public, celebrates the achievements of women:
Shop from over 30 vendors
Enjoy food and drink
Attend inspirational talks by local women engaged in the community
Talk with local organizations about careers the trades, affordable homeownership and more
This event will also launch a fundraising effort to ensure we are able to offer ongoing monthly Women Build days led by Habitat’s female construction site managers and setting the stage for an annual House that Women Built.
For sponsorship opportunities contact Tracey Sorenson (tsorenson@tpc-habitat.org) or 253-627-5626 x 104. Click here to apply as a vendor.
Shalom Project – a Partnership with St. Mark’s by the Narrows Lutheran Church
Peace Lutheran Church and St. Mark’s have partnered around a Shalom Project to bring solar panels to the houses we steward and to work on bringing more trees to the Hilltop. Read more and see photos about the solar project and the tree project.
Community Engagement & Outreach Highlights: A Word from Brendan Nelson
Peace and St. Mark’s
TPU- We received a grant for $50,000 from Tacoma Public Utilities to aid in installing solar panels on our 3 existing properties. The installation will begin on the 1951 Ainsworth home in early 2024.
Shalom Project- St. Mark’s Lutheran by the Narrows, and Peace have teamed up together, to listen to our neighbors and to work together for justice and compassion. “Shalom” is the Hebrew word, not simply for “peace” but for a shared wholeness in all facets of life. Together we seek concrete ways to work for economic, social, and racial wholeness, with a special focus on climate justice.
Trees for the Hilltop- A healthy tree cover is crucial for our climate wellbeing. Tacoma runs below the national average for tree cover, and the Tacoma map vividly shows how our neighborhoods’ differences in tree coverage align with economic, social, and racial disparity. Peace and St. Mark’s are partnering with the Tacoma Tree Foundation for a major tree-planting endeavor for the Hilltop neighborhood.
Grants
We have received a grant for $5,000 from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health to support our community resource ministry.
Housing
The tenant of our 1949 Ainsworth home has vacated as of September 30th. I am working with Alan Kies and an external company to get the house ready for a new family. We hope to have the home ready in the next few months.