St. Paul's Lutheran Church - All are welcome at God's table.

Vision and Mission Statement

St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Santa Monica is an inclusive and intergenerational Christian community in which faith relationships with God are nurtured and deepened.

Our life together will provide opportunities for people to meet and be transformed by Jesus Christ in three specific ways:

    • Joyful word and sacrament worship
    • Group study, prayer, and fellowship
    • Intentional face-to-face partnerships with those who are most in need in our society

Our Pastoral Staff

St. Paul's is served by James E. Boline, an ordained pastor and a rostered leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and Kevin Anderson, Cantor and Parish Administrator.

Pastor Boline is a graduate of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Yale University Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut.

Theological Heritage

St. Paul's is a progressive congregation within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Southwest California Synod. We are proud of our theological heritage, which invites us to be radically inclusive and wholly welcoming of all.

As a member of the 4.8 million member ELCA, St. Paul's is one of 10,500 congregations in the United States.

We are Lutherans, a mainline protestant Christian denomination named after Martin Luther, a German monk whose theological ideas shook the medieval Church to its very foundations. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his ideas (the "95 Theses") on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. His point was that salvation is totally a free, unearned gift of God, given to all people without condition (grace) in the person of Jesus Christ.

Lutheran theology is centered in the Gospel (good news) of grace, centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ for all people, without condition.

Reconciling in Christ

St. Paul's is one of the 400 Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregations within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

These days, "evangelical" in the United States is nearly synonymous with "fundamentalist"; however, "evangelical" in the truest sense of the word simply means being centered on the Good News of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.

"Reconciling in Christ" means that St. Paul's Lutheran Church has gone on record to intentionally adopt a statement welcoming all people, particularly embracing lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender individuals who might not feel welcome in other faith communities.