Gloria Dei Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1931 as a mission congregation of the old Augustana Synod, a mostly Swedish branch of American Lutheranism. Today we are a rich mix of many backgrounds and a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its Metropolitan New York Synod.
Gloria Dei, our Latin name, means “the glory of God,” and proclaims what we still seek to be – a sign of God’s wonderful presence in our local community. Centered in Word and Sacrament, we find our purpose in weekly worship, where we sing of God’s glory and offer our praise; and at worship we are fed and nourished for lives of loving service. As one of our cherished hymns puts it, may “service be our sure vocation, courage be our daily breath…” (Rise, O Church, Like Christ Arisen, ELW #548).
Our pastor, the Rev. Joel Brandt, came to Gloria Dei in March 2012, after 24 years of congregational ministry in Michigan and Colorado. A graduate of the Northwestern University and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Pastor Brandt also holds a Master’s degree in Library Studies from the University of Michigan, and he served as the founding director of the seminary library at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, from 1994-1999.
Pastor Brandt and his wife, Sue, have four grown children in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and British Columbia, Canada.
Gloria Dei, our Latin name, means “the glory of God,” and proclaims what we still seek to be – a sign of God’s wonderful presence in our local community. Centered in Word and Sacrament, we find our purpose in weekly worship, where we sing of God’s glory and offer our praise; and at worship we are fed and nourished for lives of loving service. As one of our cherished hymns puts it, may “service be our sure vocation, courage be our daily breath…” (Rise, O Church, Like Christ Arisen, ELW #548).
Our pastor, the Rev. Joel Brandt, came to Gloria Dei in March 2012, after 24 years of congregational ministry in Michigan and Colorado. A graduate of the Northwestern University and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Pastor Brandt also holds a Master’s degree in Library Studies from the University of Michigan, and he served as the founding director of the seminary library at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, from 1994-1999.
Pastor Brandt and his wife, Sue, have four grown children in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and British Columbia, Canada.
