Hilltop Lutheran

Although I’ve expressed some concern about our church’s relationship with the federal government through faith based initiatives, I have no reservations about our unordained (non-ordained?) pastor at Hilltop Lutheran and navigating around the rules of ELCA. He has a heart for Jesus and the people living in the neighborhood. Hilltop Lutheran serves a "transitional" community which 50 years ago was thriving and middle-class. Most of its members had moved to the suburbs. It became part of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church six years ago.

Hilltop‘s unorthodox mix also includes an unordained spiritual leader, Steve Scott, 51, a former lawyer. In the 70s, he worked with Young Life, an urban ministry for high-school students. He began preaching at the church two years ago and became its minister in November because of a "compelling sense that it‘s the right thing to do," he said. He can‘t perform marriages but can do most other pastoral duties. Full story in the Columbus Dispatch