Faith Lutheran Church

The Lutheran Church grew out of the Reformation in Europe in the 1500s. Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic monk, sought to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church. In matters of faith he felt that the Bible should be our authority and not the teachings of the church. His ideas were not well received and he was excommunicated. The modern Lutheran Church holds to the authority of scripture. However, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) does not take the Bible “literally,” and recognizes that the bible needs to be interpreted. Although the church provides social statements on a variety of issues, these statements are not seen as “law,” so much as they are seen as guidelines.

Lutherans have two sacraments, sacred moments, which are sacraments because they are based on the command of Jesus from scripture. One sacrament is Baptism, as Jesus said to “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” The other sacrament is Holy Communion, as Jesus said “Do this in remembrance of me.” All people in the church – pastors, engineers, business people, homemakers – are seen as equal in the sight of God. Pastors have a particular calling to serve the mission of the church, no different than those who serve the Lord in their callings in business and the home. The ELCA celebrates the marriages of pastors and will ordain women to be pastors.