It’s easier than ever to see what Gloria Dei is all about.
As Dana Point, California, and surrounding Orange County have mushroomed the past few decades, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church has grown with them.
As recently as 2015, Gloria Dei was holding three services, and the nonstop shuttling of folding chairs in and out of the main sanctuary was a staple of Sunday worship.
“We were out of room,” the Rev. David Mattson, pastor of the congregation, recalls. “ So we imagined our future, and we decided to take a big step. We decided to expand.”
With a loan from the Mission Investment Fund, Gloria Dei broke ground on a new sanctuary as well as a new outdoor chapel, patio, playground for the church-run preschool and parking lot.
“MIF was happy to work with us, and we really wanted to support MIF as a ministry of the church,” Pastor Mattson says.
Featuring a mix of traditional and contemporary elements, lots of glass and light and folding doors that allow the outside to come in, the design of the new sanctuary is stunning.
Blending traditional and contemporary elements, the new sanctuary at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Dana Point, California, features folding glass doors that open onto a surrounding garden space. Worshippers gather both indoors and out.
Beyond the aesthetics, Gloria Dei has seized on an important benefit of the project. “Our original sanctuary now has been repurposed as space for important ministry work that we do,” Pastor Mattson says. Gloria Dei’s hope is to be a “life-changing church” through its caring ministries and service. “Our vision is to be a 24/7 kind of congregation, with our own ministry work taking shape, as well as community groups meeting around the clock in some way, every day, in our facilities. That’s happening, and it is amazing.”
Gloria Dei’s important “We Care” ministry focuses on delivering meals to people in need, providing sack lunches to neighbors experiencing homelessness and offering rides to doctor appointments or other sites for those who need transportation. The congregation also acts as a “covenant church” for Habitat for Humanity, providing financial support as well as volunteers for building sites. And the congregation shares its space with a number of other community groups.
Gloria Dei is an active supporter of an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico, where the congregation built this kitchen and where members come to serve.
Gloria Dei’s outreach extends beyond Dana Point, all the way across the border. Members make regular visits to the Los Angelitos Orphanage outside Tijuana to provide financial and moral support and, when needed, a little muscle: Gloria Dei members recently built a commercial kitchen for the orphanage.
Reflecting on Gloria Dei’s major construction project and its impact on the congregation and the community, Pastor Mattson quotes Psalm 145:4: “One generation will praise your works to another.”
“That’s why we built this,” Pastor Mattson says. “At the time, I said, ‘Most of us won’t be around 50 years from now. This is for my children and for the generations to come—and also for those who have never heard the grace of God, the grace of Jesus.’ ”
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