Peace Lutheran Church, 328 E. Great Creek Rd., Galloway Township, celebrates a significant event on Friday, April 17, which is Palm Sunday: 20 years of serving the community.
What began as a home church with a small group of people grew into the building that opened its doors two decades ago to spread the peace of Christ throughout the area.
The Rev. Philip McClelland came to the pastor’s position three years ago from St. Louis, MO. The church is part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, which has been proclaiming the gospel in America for over 150 years.
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McClelland talked about the various ministries that are active at the church.
“We’ve had a successful preschool operating at the church for nine years under the direction of Patti Wythe,” McClelland said. “Our average attendance is about 32 children on a daily basis, and the number of children registered in the program is at capacity (51 students).”
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The pastor went on to describe some of the other ministries that are active.
“Our Mercy Ministry is developing a new outreach with a faith-based counseling program that’s slated to begin in the spring of this year,” McClelland said. “We’ve been actively helping the Atlantic City Rescue Mission for years with monetary and food donations. We also have our Dorcas quarterly program that gathers clothing, primarily for children, and distributes it to needy families throughout the year. Warm winter clothing is of particular importance each year.”
Another ministry involves English as a Second Language, or ESL, classes
“We have an average of 15 people attend these classes conducted by volunteers from our congregation, and they are a great help to the people who come to them,” McClelland said. “We’ve been amazed at the number of people from Africa, the Middle East and other areas of the world who’ve been helped by this ministry.”
Peace Lutheran also has a men’s Bible study and breakfast on the second Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. at an area restaurant, a women’s Bible study that meets the first Tuesday of each month and rotates from home-to-home, and a regular Monday night Bible study at the church at 7 p.m. during the week.
The pastor also has good news for people with babies.
“Whether they are members of the church or not, we encourage people to bring their babies to us for baptism,” McClelland said. “We do a lot of them as a service to the community.
“We have traditional Lutheran worships service Sunday mornings at 8 and 10 a.m., and we provide a nursery during the 10 a.m. service. One of the big events we hold each year is our Annual Clambake. It’s held the first Saturday of June each year, and the date this year is June 4. We get started at noon and go to 5 p.m. Visitors will enjoy seafood, burgers and fries and a lot of other great food so we urge everyone to mark their calendars. This is our 17th year for the event.”
For more information on Peace Lutheran Church call 609-748-1777, or check out the website at new.peacegallowaynj.org. There are other important telephone numbers and email contact information for Pastor McClelland on the website.
