Trinity by Lucas Cranach, The Elder, c. 1515

Imagine a church that is both evangelical—proclaiming the free forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ—and sacramental, centering its spiritual life in the regenerating waters of baptism and the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion. Imagine further a church that is strongly grounded on Scripture, but yet avoids the solipsism of individual interpretation in favor of a comprehensive, intellectually rigorous and imminently orthodox theological system. Imagine a worship service that features both strong preaching and the historic liturgy. Imagine that this is a historical church with a rich spiritual tradition, but without legalism. Imagine, in short, a church that has some of the best parts of Protestantism and the best parts of Catholicism. Finally, imagine that this church body is not some little made-up sect, but one of the largest bodies of Christians in the world. Such a church might seem like what many Christians, disaffected by both the vacuity of liberal theology and the shallowness of American evangelicalism, are dreaming of. Such a church exists. It goes by the admittedly inadequate name 'Lutheran.' [Gene Edward Veith, Jr., The Spirituality of the Cross: the Way of the First Evangelicals (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 114.]

Above all, the Christian Lutheran faith desires to be faithfully centered in Jesus Christ and strives to let the Gospel of His life, teachings, death, and resurrection from the dead be the center of all we profess and do. The name “Lutheran” indicates a confession within the one holy, Christian church, rather than a denomination. However, the name Lutheran is also used in the title of many denominations across the globe (e.g. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod).

To learn what we believe, teach, and confess we encourage you to take an Adult Confirmation Class with our pastors. Doing so does not obligate you to join our church.

Our church is a member of the The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, a Synod formed by Saxon Germans who immigrated to the United States in the mid 1800s and founded our Synod in AD 1847. It itends to remain a member of the Synod as long as the confessions and constitution of the Synod are in accord with the confessions and consititution of our congregation as laid down in Article II:

This congregation accepts and aknowleges all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God, and all the Symbolic Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord as a true and sound exposition of Christian doctrine taken from and in full agreement with the Holy Scriptures; and in this congregation no doctrine shall be taught or tolerated which is at variance with these Symbols of the Evangelical Lutheran Church:

1) The Three Ecumencial Creeds: Apostolic, Nicene, and Athanasian,
2) The Unaltered Augsburg Confession,
3) The Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
4) The Smalcald Articles [editor's note: when our congregation wrote this article, they did not list separately, but understood the "Treatise on the Primacy of the Pope" as an addendum to the Smalcald Articles],
5) Luther's Large Catechism,
6) Luther's Small Catechism,
7) The Formula of Concord.

According to this form of doctrine, all doctrinal controversies which may arise in this congregation shall be decided and adjudicated.

In a nutshell, here's what we believe about:

Jesus
We believe Jesus is God. The Scriptures teach that Jesus is both fully God, begotten of the Father (He is the Son in the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and is fully man, born of the virgin Mary. He died on the cross for us on a Friday in (or about) AD 33 to make peace between God and the entire world through faith in Jesus' incarnation and atonement. Jesus also physically rose from the dead for us on Easter to show His victory over death and to give us assurance and hope for eternal life with Him in paradise. We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus is the only way to heaven, that He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and of His Kingdom there will be no end.

The Church
We believe and confess "the one holy Christian and apostolic church," which consists of all those who hear the Gospel of Jesus and so have been called to believe and confess Him as Lord by the Spirit who works true faith through the Word and the Sacraments.

Martin Luther
First, it should be noted that Lutherans do not worship Luther. We worship none other than the Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have access to the Father by the Spirit. Christ alone saves us and is worthy of our adoration and praise. Luther is someone God set apart as sort of our "patron saint" of Christ-centered, cross-focused theology (study of God). He's an interesting fellow if you'd ever give him a chance to speak to you through his writings. We believe God used him in his day to help reform the Western church, that is, to help restore the church's teachings and practices to orthodoxy (agreement with the Scriptures—God's Word, rather than the wavering and or faulty opinions of councils or individuals).

Dr. Luther lived from AD 1483 to 1546. He was a pastor and professor in Wittenberg, Germany, a former monk of the Augustinian order, a hero in the eyes of many German people of his day because of his teachings and convictions, and an enemy and heretic to those who took offense at the things Luther said and did.

Luther wrote many things we love (only 35 volumes have been translated into English), including but not limited to: The Small Catechism, The Large Catechism, The Freedom of a Christian, and his Galatians Commentary. His work and influence also appears in the documents written to defend the faith Lutherans boldly believe, teach, and confess. These writings are contained in The Book of Concord of 1580.

He also wrote some things that he regretted, as do we. Luther was but a man, not God—a man who readily admitted fallibility and was sure of his great need of Christ Jesus and the forgiveness He brings. But when Luther spoke the things of God, the truth rings loud and clear—the sheep hear Jesus' voice. Praise God for raising up men like Luther to declare boldly and give out the mysteries of God according to His Word. We continue to love the best from Luther, to promote His Christ-centered and cross-focused teachings, and to reject the things he and the reformers rejected for the sake of the one Christian faith.

Want to learn more?
Talk with one of our Pastors.