Lutherans are Christians who accept the teachings of Martin Luther (1483 – 1546). Luther was a German theologian who realized that there were significant differences between what he read in the Bible and the practices of the Roman Catholic church at that time. On October 31, 1517, he posted a challenge on the door of Wittenberg University, titled “95 Theses” (to debate 95 theological issues). His hope was that the church would reform its practice and preaching to be more consistent with the Word of God as contained in the Bible.

What started as an academic debate escalated into a distinct separation between the Roman Catholic church of the time and those who accepted Luther’s suggested reforms. “Lutheran” became the name of the group that agreed with Luther’s convictions.

Today, five centuries later, Lutherans still celebrate the Reformation on October 31 and still hold to the basic principles of Luther’s theological teachings, such as Grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone. These comprise the very essence of Lutheranism:

• We are saved by the grace of God alone — not by anything we do.

• Our salvation is through faith alone — we only need to trust God made known in Christ who promises us forgiveness, life and salvation.

• The Bible is the norm for faith and life — the true standard by which teachings and doctrines are to be judged.

St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church began as a mission of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church downtown. Its first incarnation in 1882 was as a German Sunday School. (Evangelical, by the way, is simply the name of the Lutheran church in Germany, Evangelische Kirche.) It was founded as a congregation in the fall of 1884 with Athanasius Stuckert, a Swiss immigrant, as its first pastor, and formally incorporated in January 1885. Pastor Stuckert was still serving St. Paul's Lutheran Church when he died in 1896, at 46 years of age. The 60th anniversary booklet of 1944 notes that his daughter was at that time still a member of St. Paul's.

In the beginning, the Sunday School and then the congregation met in the Second Congregational Church on St. Paul’s and Summit Avenues. St. Paul's built its own church building on that site in 1885. According to church records, the congregation paid $2,450 for five lots and $12,740 for the building, organ, and furnishings. In 1905, the church sold this property to the Erie Railroad Company, so much of the original church site is now part of the rail line cut that runs behind the present church property.​

The congregation worshipped in German. An English Sunday School and monthly English worship services were instituted in 1898. The German and English Sunday Schools merged in 1925, but it wasn’t until 1930 that the congregation began to hold English worship services every Sunday morning, retaining a German service as well. In 1949, German services were reduced to three per year.

The cornerstone of the present church building was laid in 1906 and the building dedicated in May 1907. The church bell, dedicated in 1893, the baptismal font, dedicated Easter 1900, and other appointments were brought from the old building.

The Odell two-manual pipe organ was dedicated in 1908; it was restored and rebuilt with an electric motor in 1949. The stained-glass windows, from the famous studio Mainz of Munich, were installed from 1909 to 1922. The tower clock, paid for mostly by local businessmen, was dedicated in 1912. Various anniversary booklets indicate the difficulty we’ve historically had in keeping those four separate clocks running, subject as they are to Nor'easters and bird droppings.

By 1934, the congregation had a communicant membership—meaning that young children were not counted—of about 500. The Sunday School had 250 children. The candlelight Christmas Eve service, which continues to this day, was instituted in 1938.

In the 1940s and 1950s St. Paul's supported missionaries or churches in Japan, Argentina, India, and British Guiana. The church supported many home-grown ministries including men’s clubs, the Christian Young Ladies Society, ladies’ aid, youth groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and others. A mortgage-burning ceremony in 1943 celebrated the congregation’s freedom from debt. The 1944 60th anniversary booklet notes that 110 young men and women from St. Paul's were serving our country in World War II.

The parish hall was built in 1966-67, funded primarily by member donations. No mortgage was taken. It was later dedicated as the Richard W. Heins Memorial parish hall in honor of the pastor who served the congregation from 1938-1972. The parish hall has served not only as a Sunday School and meeting room for church activities but also as the site of a senior citizens lunch program, several Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups and many community meetings.

The Sharing Place, St. Paul’s hunger ministry, was established in 1982 and has grown steadily. The Sharing Place currently serves over 200 households per month, operating the third Saturday to Friday of every month and staffed almost entirely by volunteers. We believe it to be the largest food pantry in Hudson County and one of the largest in New Jersey.

In 1988, the church purchased the current parsonage. The former parsonage has since been leased to Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey as the Lutheran Home for Children, which currently cares for children and teens while their parents or guardians undergo drug or alcohol rehabilitation. During the 1980s, we also hosted the St. Paul's Shelter for homeless women and children in the church basement.

Since 1988, the year the present churchbody was founded, St. Paul's has been a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the fourth largest churchbody in the U.S. Previously the congregation was part of the Lutheran Church in America, one of the ELCA’s constituent bodies.

The church has published a newsletter since 1889. In 1999 the name was changed from Hausgast (house guest) to In Common, based on Acts 2:44: “All who believed were together and had all things in common.”

The current pastor, Damaris Porsch-Ortega, was called in 2024.

In 2008, the congregation began a major renovation project designed to provide more space for social service organizations in our neighborhood. As part of this project, Hudson County CASA (court appointed special advocates) established its offices in the parish hall in 2009. Renovations in the church basement have made space for the church office and Sunday School rooms.

Over the years, different Lutheran church bodies have been established and organized to meet the needs of Lutherans in communities and nations all over the world. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the largest Lutheran group in North America, founded in 1988 when three North American Lutheran church bodies united: The American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the Lutheran Church in America.

Lutherans are part of a reforming movement within the whole Christian church; as a part of practicing their faith, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its predecessors have engaged in ecumenical dialogue with other church bodies for decades. In fact, the ELCA has entered into cooperative “full communion” agreements (sharing common convictions about theology, mission and worship) with several other Protestant denominations, including:

• the Moravian Church

• the Episcopal Church

• the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

• the Reformed Church in America

• the United Church of Christ

• the United Methodist Church

The ELCA has an ongoing dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, and in 1999, representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. This represented a historic consensus on key issues of faith and called for further dialogue and study together.

Lutheranism is a faith tradition that is open to all, regardless of background. The ELCA alone is almost five million members strong, with nearly 10,000 congregations across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. We welcome you to learn more about our church and find out how we can help you along life’s path.

Statements of Belief

Lutherans believe in the Triune God. God created and loves all of creation — the earth and the seas and all of the world’s inhabitants. We believe that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, transforms lives through his death on the cross and his new life, and we trust that God’s Spirit is active in the world.

We are part of God’s unfolding plan. When we gather for worship, we connect with believers everywhere. When we study the Bible or hear God’s word in worship, we are drawn more deeply into God’s own saving story.

The convictions shared by Christians from many different traditions are expressed in statements of belief called creeds. These ecumenical creeds that Lutherans affirm and use in worship confess the faith of the church through the ages and around the world.

The Confessions of Faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is part of our founding constitution. The ELCA accepts the following creeds as true declarations of the faith of this church:

• The Apostles’ Creed

• The Nicene Creed

• The Athanasian Creed

Lutherans believe that baptism incorporates us into the one holy, catholic and apostolic Church, the Body of Christ, where we experience the gift of faith, the forgiveness of sins, redemption from death and the devil, and the promise of eternal life. In baptism we are buried into Christ’s death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so too we might walk in newness of life (Romans 6).

Baptism happens just once in our lifetime, but it is a way of life, as we daily die to sin and rise up to live before God. Baptism is an occasion of joy for every member of the congregation, and so baptisms are held at our regular Sunday service at 10:15 am. The baptized becomes a member of the church, is invited to receive Holy Communion, and is expected to grow in faith and love as he or she attends worship regularly.

If you are interested in being baptized, or having a child baptized, please contact us by email or by calling 201-963-5518 to schedule an appointment to discuss the process. Usually 2 or 3 pre-baptism classes are held with the pastor, parents and godparents.

Baptisms typically take place several times a year, on the following days: the Vigil of Easter (Spring), The Day of Pentecost (Spring), The Holy Trinity (Summer), the Feast of All Saints (November), Baptism of Our Lord (January). Special circumstances may allow for flexibility, so please contact with as much advance notice as possible.

If you are interested in getting married at St. Paul’s, please contact us by email or by calling 201-963-5518 to schedule an appointment. This meeting will be to determine availability and fees and to establish a pre-marital counseling schedule, which typically consists of 4 to 6 sessions.