Gethsemane Ev Lutheran Congregation-Wels

Disclaimer — I also don’t attend church here, but this WELS church seems worth a try as they are very engaged in the community and providing a useful service.
If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity, look no further! All you need is a decent grasp of conversational English and you can make a difference and make some friends while doing this.
As other reviewers have stated, this church offers English classes for (Spanish speaking) immigrants 3x/​week, 2 hours each. It is highly flexible, accepting volunteers from nearby schools, churches, and the community for whatever time commitment they can make. I initially signed up for 1 or 2 nights a week, but loved it so much that I signed up for every night I was available! I helped 2 students with English, they threw in some Spanish lessons for me, and we learned about each other’s lives as we learned each other’s languages. I developed a great relationship with the 2 students I worked with — so much so that I was sad when one of them was paired with someone else. We are going out for margaritas to celebrate the end of a recent session!
The church is extremely generous and donates the space, electricity, and copies of the worksheets that guide our lessons. Other funding comes from other congregations, grants, and donations from students and tutors.
The English lessons are headed up by Lori and Issac, two fluent English/​Spanish speakers. Students and tutors alike enjoy Lori’s enthusiasm and consistency. Isaac offers voluntary Spanish language Bible studies at the end of each day’s lesson. Childcare is usually available for children older than 4.
At the end of a lesson block student’s accomplishments are recognized by having volunteers read their compositions and giving out certificates to students who have had perfect attendance or attended certain numbers of lessons (like 100). Afterwards there is a delicious potluck. It’s a great celebration of the progress students make and a chance for locals to try some great Mexican food.
For more information check out the English Language Partners page on Facebook. Hope to see you there!

I don’t attend church here, but I’ve been involved with their ESL (English as a Second Language) outreach for years. It’s a fantastic program, because these English classes are 3x/​week, 2 hours each, and consist of one-​on-​one tutoring and conversation practice with volunteer native speakers. The curriculum is planned by a degree-​holding full-​time coordinator, designed to be consistent but flexible for multiple English ability levels.
Being an outreach tool for the church, students are given the opportunity to attend Bible studies and services, but there definitely isn’t any pressure to do either. More importantly, the program has become a cultural outreach for the community, getting immigrants and their neighbors to build relationships, and has become an extended means of support for everyone involved.

Okay, get ready for a shocker — for those that know me.
This is the church I attended growing up. I think I was baptized here, and went to Sunday School here. I was confirmed here. I was bored out of my mind thru many sermons, and always participated in the Xmas eve programs with the rest of the kids.
I left it all behind to be the Agnostic I am now, but there are still some pretty happy memories from my Formative Years that happened here.
My mom teaches ESL classes here for the now mostly Hispanic congregation. And she’s still a member. My dad and I don’t get it, but whatever, it makes her happy. Oh, and she’s learning Spanish from her students — have I mentioned she’s gonna be 80? And is still hot.
A really good experience I had here, was my confirmation classes. The pastor at the time was this no-​nonsense, straight talk guy. He used to be not only a marine, but a policeman. He had a very realistic way of looking at the world, and related that to the religious stuff we were learning in 8^th grade when we Lutherans were «confirmed».
I can still parrot some of the stuff I memorized from Luther’s Small Catechism — and if that doesn’t amuse and horrify my friends, my friend, then nothing will.