Our beliefs: we are...
Christian
We believe in one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God the Father created the universe and everything in it with intentionality, calling it good.
When humans disobeyed God 's will, evil came into the world, and we can't free ourselves from it- only God can.
That's why God the Son became human in the person of Jesus. This Jesus taught us how to love God and one another. He was executed on false pretenses, but by his death absolved all human beings from the curse of sin when they believe in him. He defeated death by rising again on the third day, which we commemorate every Sunday.
This undeserved sacrifice on our behalf is called grace.
Afterward, Jesus promised his disciples guidance through God the Holy Spirit, and then ascended into heaven.
He will return at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, and will rule forever.
Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Jesus' disciples founded the Christian Church, an organization dedicated to telling all the world the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. This Spirit still guides the Church today.
We look forward with hope to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Artwork: The Last Supper (L. da Vinci, 1495-8)
Lutheran
The Christian Church expanded over the centuries, spreading the Good News across the world.
Unfortunately, parts of the Church became entangled in political intrigues and financial scams, even to the point of selling pieces of paper in exchange for the forgiveness of sins. This ran directly against the Bible, the official collection of Christian scriptures, which states that only faith in God can save us, not our actions.
Martin Luther, a German clergyman who taught the Bible at his local university, wrote against these abuses by Church leaders. In doing so, he unintentionally started a movement to reform the Church. Followers of this movement became known as "Lutherans."
As Christians, Lutherans believe everything stated above, especially interpreted through this statement:
We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and not by our works.
Lutherans are unique among Christians in possessing a comprehensive collection of official theological documents, known as the "Book of Concord." We view the Book of Concord as an authoritative framework for interpreting the Bible.
While we admire Luther and the reformers, we recognize that they were flawed human beings and products of their time. We reject their harmful views about Jews, Anabaptists, and other religious communities as these views are incompatible with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Additionally, we unconditionally and wholeheartedly affirm the God-given dignity of all human beings regardless of race, gender, sexuality, and other identities that the Church has wrongfully repressed in the past.
Artwork: Luther Nails the Ninety-Five Theses to the Door. (F. Pauwels, 1872)
ELCA
Our congregation belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the culmination of over three hundred years of Lutheran ministry in what is now the United States.
American Lutherans struggled to unite because many were recent immigrants from different parts of Europe. These folks spoke different languages, embraced different forms of worship, and disputed minor points of theology. Over time, these differences were either smoothed over or made compatible, leading to the founding of the ELCA in 1988, a merger of three large US Lutheran denominations. As a result, ELCA congregations may vary in minor points of teaching or how they worship, but affirm the same core of Lutheran Christianity.
The ELCA is divided into synods, regional church organizations. Each synod is headed by a bishop, a person who represents the unbroken line of Christian ministry from Jesus' disciples to today. The bishop oversees and advises pastors, deacons, and congregations. We belong to the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod of the ELCA. Our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Matthew Riegel (pictured; right), was elected in 2015. He ordained Pastor Daniel and Pastor Amelia to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the ELCA in 2022.
Photo: Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Ordination of Pastors Amelia and Daniel Collins. November 26th, 2022.