Welcome home.
If you’re looking for a place that combines familiar Christianity with fresh perspectives, you belong here.
We’re part of the ELCA, a Lutheran tradition with a strong history and an open future.
Each week, we celebrate holy communion and welcome all to our table for bread and wine. We also chew on sacred texts, looking for the good news that can still be found there. We sing a lot, and we greet visitors warmly.
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We know a loving God.
We don’t see God as angry. We know God as Love, as the One who cares for all of us. We’ll do our best to share that love with you.
We know God as the Wholeness who came in the form of Jesus to lead us toward our own wholeness and restoration. And we’ll learn to walk in his Way together.
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We’ve got a loving spirit.
We know we need each other. If you want to be missed when you’re gone, you belong here. In our pews, you’re more than just a number. You won’t get lost in the crowd.
We’ll invite you to coffee after the service. We’ll hug you when you need it. We’ll pray for and with you too.
Our People
Sheri Kling
Interim Minister
“In my weekly messages, I focus on the love of God and the presence of God in the world. I love to take our weekly texts and find new insights for how we live our lives today. Is Jesus still relevant in the 21st century? Does the way of Jesus still make sense? I think so. That’s what I like to talk about.”
Sheri D. Kling, Ph.D., is serving as interim minister for Redeemer Lutheran Church as a Synodically Approved Minister of Word and Sacrament (SAM) for the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). She earned her doctorate from the Claremont School of Theology (Claremont, CA) and holds a Master of Arts of theological studies from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (IL). She got her bachelor’s degree from Purdue University.
Sheri’s been through a lot of changes – having worked in marketing and communications, as a performing singer and songwriter, and as a program director for a nonprofit. Although Sheri pursued theological studies later in life with the goal of teaching in higher education, she is now delighted to have been invited to serve Redeemer as interim minister.
A lifelong focus on spirituality, psychology, wholeness, and transformation has led Sheri down interesting pathways, where she has often taught workshops and led retreats, including a spiritual pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona, Scotland. She is passionate about helping people connect deeply with God, experience the transforming love of Jesus within communities of faith, and find meaning and purpose within their everyday lives.
Sheri is the author of A Process Spirituality and Finding Home: Rural Reflections on the Journey to Wholeness and has contributed to several other books. She lives in Bradenton, FL and may be found online at https://www.SheriKling.com/. You can find her thoughts on what it means to be Lutheran here.
John Lucado
Music and Choir Director
John joined the church staff as Director of Music and our organist during the Easter season of 2009, and spent many years serving as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Business and Technology teaching economics and related business courses for State College of Florida.
His formal education includes: A.S. Business Administration from Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke, Virginia: B.A. Music in Performance (Organ) 1977; B.A. Philosophy and Religion 1977; Masters of Science in Business Administration-MSBA 1980, all from Radford University, Radford Virginia. Postgraduate studies in Education and Economics (1990 to present) were completed with: N.C. State University, Raleigh N.C.; UNC-Charlotte, N.C.; and USF, Tampa.
John leads the choir and invites all singers to join in!
Nancy Brining
Administrative Assistant
Nancy has been part of the Redeemer Community since the early 1980s and is a lifelong Lutheran. She retired from teaching in May 2022 after 43 years in the Manatee County School System. Nancy holds a degree in Sociology/Music from Cumberland College in Kentucky. (Now known as University of the Cumberlands) and two degrees in Early Childhood Education from State College of Florida. Three months after retiring, Nancy began working in the church office. Born in New Jersey and raised in New Jersey, Colorado, and Florida, she has lived in Bradenton since October of 1971.
Joanne Kelderman
Bookkeeper and Treasurer
JoAnne has been Redeemer’s bookkeeper since 2011. She was born and raised in Curtice, Ohio and comes from a long line of Lutherans. She’s been part of the Redeemer family since 1990, is active in several veteran organizations, and has held offices with those organizations as well.
Arca de Gracia
Our Bradenton neighbors may be interested in our partner in ministry, Arca de Gracia, a Hispanic congregation that meets in our sanctuary every Saturday. We invite you to learn more about them from how they describe their ministry below.
La congregación Hispana Arca de Gracia, y su pastor y fundador Joel R. Díaz de la Paz ya por más de 15 años, se congregan actualmente en el Santuario de la Iglesia Luterana Redeemer que se encuentra en el 6311 3rd Ave W, Bradenton, y ofrecen sus servicios de adoración y comunión, cada Sábado a las 3:00 pm a 5:30 pm. Sus diversas actividades de estudios bíblicos personalizados y en colectivo, por diferentes edades ( niños, adolescentes, jóvenes y adultos) ofrecen orientación y guía espiritual a todos los que llegan interesados en crecer espiritualmente y conocer más de Jesús el Redentor y Salvador del mundo. Si tienes algo que ofrecer al Señor, ya sea talentos de música, dramatización o exposición de la palabra y otros te invitamos a unirte a nosotros en un esfuerzo.
The Hispanic congregation Arca de Gracia, and its pastor and founder Joel R. Díaz de la Paz for more than 15 years, currently congregate in the Sanctuary of Redeemer Lutheran Church, located at 6311 3rd Ave W in Bradenton, and offer their worship and communion services every Saturday from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Its various personalized and collective Bible study activities, for different ages (children, adolescents, young people and adults) offer wisdom and spiritual guidance to all who come interested in growing spiritually and learning more about Jesus the Redeemer and Savior of the world. If you have something to offer the Lord, whether talents in music, dramatization or exposition of the word and others, we invite you to join us in an effort for the Hispanic community to draw closer to the Lord as soon as possible.
