Worship

Sundays

11:00 AM

5103 Central Ave.

Tampa, FL  33603

(813) 239-3113

Welcome to St. Paul Lutheran Church!

Organized in 1927, we are the oldest ELCA Lutheran church in Tampa, the "Mother Church" of the eleven others.  Our first home was room 303 at the YMCA building in downtown Tampa.  Sixty-six people attended the first service in December of 1926.  At our seventh service - in January, 1927 - we were formally organized as a church.

After investigating several possible homes (and asking Peter O. Knight to donate a lot on Davis Island!), our church leaders decided to purchase a lot in Seminole Heights at the corner of Wilder and Central in 1930.  At the time, this 145' X 275' lot contained a large frame house in the middle of an orange grove.

We saved our pennies, took out a mortgage, purchased the property, and began re-modeling the house.  Our first worship service at our new home was held on Pentecost Sunday, June 3, 1930.  The brickwork delineating the front porch of that original building has been preserved behind the present sanctuary.

We struggled, as did the rest of the country, during the Depression, but by 1942 we began a "Buy a Brick" campaign to raise money for a permanent church building.  In addition, during the war years, St. Paul sponsored a Thursday evening social night for soldiers at the USO.  By 1942, our membership had grown to 181 members.

St. Paul is a Congregation of the ELCA