My Sabbatical is soon coming to an end and I think this is the last blog of my church visits. So I thought it appropriate that I end with an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America visit. This little church is in Plains, GA. As “Part One” outlines, we went to Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist in Plains. Before you get to Marantha, you pass St. Andrew’s Lutheran.
The church is beautiful–a jewel box. But, alas, it has seen better days. There were only fifteen of us in worship. Our attendance boosted attendance by nearly 15%!
Everyone in the church greeted us warmly. This level is friendliness is common in small parishes and points to why a church should never close if at all possible. 
The service was straight from the LUTHERAN BOOK OF WORSHIP and conducted by a lay person–a woman from a nearby town. She did a good job. Her sermon was quite excellent. I would give it a 4 (of 5) stars (although I would give her delivery a 2–she read it).
It felt good to be back in an ELCA parish. Back in July I had preached at my Mom’s parish in Kansas, but being a participant is not the same as being a guest. 
lutheranworship 
There are so many people who have tried the cookie-cutter non-denominational world and have become disillusioned with church life. I am hoping through blogs and other ways of communication that they can find out about small historical churches. Thank you for your blog this summer.