Memorial Lutheran Church

11/06/2025

Memorial Lutheran’s e-mail list is soon to be retired. If you want to stay up to date and involved with the new things happening with Riverside Commons, sign up for the email list on our website— RCommons.org

10/18/2025

Join us tomorrow for a special festival worship at 4:30pm! We are honoring the past 90 years of ministry as Memorial Evangelical Lutheran, and we will celebrate the transformation into Riverside Commons.

All are invited to come out for a great time of worship together. We have a special music lineup tomorrow, including Gretchen on the organ; pickin’ and playin’ from Clint Alphin and John & Julie Pennell, and rumor has it there might even be a trumpet! Bishop Kevin Strickland will preach and preside.

After worship, we’ll have cookies and a bubbly toast to bless the new mural in the parking lot!

Rostered leaders are invited to vest - the color of the day is RED as we observe the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist.

10/18/2025

After 90+ years of ministry, we give thanks for the ministry of Memorial Lutheran Church of Nashville, TN. This ministry will come to a close on October 31, 2025. A thanksgiving and conclusion of ministry will be on Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 4:30pm and Bishop Strickland will lead the service. Still, we know that God transforms death into new life and brings about resurrection in a weary world.
Therefore, on November 1, 2025, the Southeastern Synod is introducing a new ministry in this same space, Riverside Commons.
Riverside Commons will be led by The Rev. Liza Hawkins. Riverside Commons, a “neighborhood space for the sake of the world,” will aim to serve as a spiritual, artistic, and social hub for East Nashville. This is more than a simple redesign of a traditional worship service, but a fuller vision of what it can look like for a community to center connection and spirituality in a new way. Riverside Commons intends to grow into a self-sustaining worshipping community, particularly as community development deepens. The ministry’s vision is to be a sanctuary of creativity and care where artists, activists, seekers, and neighbors gather to make music, share food, organize mutual aid, and encounter the sacred in unexpected ways. Grounded in Lutheran theology and radical welcome, we are transforming the church space for collective liberation.

+The Rev. Dr. Kevin L. Strickland, Bishop
Ms. Melissa Fuller Sims, Assistant to the Bishop Director for Evangelical Mission

A word from Pastor Liza Hawkins: "Riverside Commons is shaping up to be an exciting adventure, and the surrounding area is already noticing new life emerging here! With God’s help, our work toward community engagement through arts and mutual aid is beginning to take shape, and that’s exactly our hope: to be a neighborhood space for the sake of the world. "

07/13/2025

Apologies for the short notice, but worship this afternoon has been canceled!

See you next week!

06/29/2025

This Sunday: Dinner Church! 🍽️ - https://mailchi.mp/686c41a95b6d/august-2024-at-memorial-lutheran-13905395

06/22/2025

Dinner Church Postponed to June 29 -

Pastor Liza is sick and cannot lead worship this evening. Dinner Church is postponed to June 29, with our regular schedule resuming in July!

On the first of the month, we send an newsletter with announcements and updates, spiritual tidbits, and upcoming events at Memorial and around Nashville.

06/12/2025

Doubts & Stouts Tonight, Dinner Church June 22! -

https://mailchi.mp/f99d49d2e128/august-2024-at-memorial-lutheran-13905019

06/07/2025

June At Memorial - http://eepurl.com/jf5O--/

05/25/2025

Dinner Church Tonight! 🍽️ - http://eepurl.com/jfBkF2

05/17/2025

3rd Sunday Worship - Can We Love Each Other? - http://eepurl.com/je2fck