Through our Mission & Outreach ministry we growth in faith through our service to others. This ministry focuses on external contributions to God’s kingdom by being his heart and hands in our community. Mission & Outreach includes:

Mexico Mission Trip

Our yearly mission trip to Baja, California to support immigrant farmworkers who work and live in under supported villages. Originally designed as a youth group event, our Mexico Mission trip has grown to be an outreach for all generations. For more information, please contact the church office and ask for the Council Ministry leader, Sharon Hayes, or trip leader, Fred Vogelgesang.

Bread of Life

Our community in Antioch faces many challenges, one of which is the increasing number of homeless and in need of support. In partnership with the Bread of Life Ministries, our congregation provides monthly meals to the homeless. For more information, please contact the church office and ask for the Council Ministry leader, Sharon Hayes, or Bread of Life Coordinator, Bobbi Crossland.

Kimball Community

We are blessed as a faith community to be able to work with the Antioch School District to bring the word of God directly to children through “Kid’s Club”. Kid’s Club is a nationwide organization that works with local ministries to provide weekly Christian-based after-school programing. We are proud to have been the first local Church to reach out and bring this program to our community. After three years, the program is going strong and we continue to look for ways to be active in the lives of our children throughout our community. For more information, please contact the church office and ask for the Children’s Ministry Director, Eileen Blue or Council Ministry leader, Sharon Hayes.

Global Ministry

Pastor Jerry Schmalenberger, old preacher, retired Seminary President, vagabond missionary, and sometimes professor, not perfect but forgiven. A graduate of Wittenberg University and Hamma School of Theology Dr. Schmalenberger served as a parish pastor for 29 years before taking the presidency of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California, where he was also Professor of Parish Ministry. Now retired from that position, he is a Global Mission Volunteer with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Our Global Missionary has taught in the countries of: Liberia, Jamaica, Bavaria, Argentina, Uruguay, Suriname, Sumatra, Hong Kong and The People's Republic of China. He continues to travel to Hong Kong and Asia where he works with future pastors, missionaries and Professors of newly established theological seminaries.

The author of twenty-two books on the Christian faith and pastoral ministry our "Pastor Jerry", as we call him, often preaches and teaches at St. John's enriching our worship by sharing his experiences about the world wide Lutheran family. He and his wife Carol, who is the ELCA's Region 2 Archivist, reside in the Pittsburg, California,marina.

He is a frequent contributor to The Lutheran magazine, Partners and Theology and Life theological journals His latest published books include: The Miracles of Jesus and Their Flip Side, These Will Preach, Preparation for Discipleship, The Preacher's Edge, Plane Thoughts on Parish Ministry, The Parables of Jesus and Their Flip Side, Dear Friends and Family and The Preacher's Lectionary Workbook, Series A, series B and Series C. All are published by CSS publishing of Lima Ohio and are also available from Amazon.com and Barns and Noble.

Mission Endowment Fund:  Faithful Giving – And How it Impacts our Community.

The St. John’s Mission Endowment Fund is an ongoing opportunity for giving that allows St. John’s to partner with ministries and individuals throughout our community by providing financial grants to meet the direct needs of persons nominated for support.  Donations managed through the Endowment Fund are managed throughout the year and the interest on those funds dispersed yearly to organizations and individuals in the form of grants.  Past recipients have been able to use these grants to attend school, to support their charitable organization, to continue a music program or even to buy meals for the needy.  Grants have supported mission and outreach in our community and has allowed St. John’s to be an integral part of sharing the word of God through these gifts of faithful giving.  If you would like to make a donation, please use the link below to be directed to our giving page.  If you are an individual or organization that would like to learn more about our Endowment Grants, please reach out to our church office and ask to speak to Joe Reitz, Endowment Fund Chair.

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