EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
What We Believe
The ELCA confesses the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In our preaching and teaching the ELCA trusts the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. This teaching (or theology) guides the proclamation and ministry of this faith. It does not have an answer for all questions, not even all religious questions. Teaching or theology prepares members to be witnesses in speech and in action of God’s rich mercy in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is a catalyst that creates, strengthens and sustains faith in Jesus Christ and the life we have in him. That life-giving work continues every day, as Martin Luther explained in the Small Catechism: the Holy Spirit “calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”
We could try and anticipate every question you might have about what we believe (e.g. “What do Lutheran’s believe about the Bible?” or “What do Lutheran’s believe about Holy Baptism?,” etc). Since the internet makes it easy to search and find information, consider this link to a section of the web page of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that already does that: www.elca.org/Faith/ELCA-Teaching. We think it is pretty thorough. However, if they fail to address your question, please feel free to contact our pastor (Rev. Barbara Holzhauser) at holzhauser.barb@gmail.com.
LIVING WORD LUTHERAN CHURCH
Our mission as a congregation is stated as follows: “A Christ-Centered Community: Living by Grace and sharing our Faith.” We believe that God's grace does, in fact, include this world and all of us living in it. We know that we are not perfect -- far from it! However, we believe that God has revealed that our flaws and failings have been dealt with by God’s love. We also believe that we have been called to “share” the love revealed to us through Jesus. Share, not in the sense that we have something which others need – but share in the sense that we believe God has given to each of us a part to play in making a difference in the world. Each of us has a share in that work and we do our part when we love one another.
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We hope this site is helpful to you whether you are a first time visitor or a long time member; whether you are looking for something in particular or stumbled up this site by accident; whether you desire to gain information, find direction, ask a question, share your thoughts or request a prayer. You are welcome here and in the community that makes up Living Word. Thanks for joining us in the journey here on the web. Please feel free to also check us out in person!
Please join us on Sundays for Worship at 9:30 am
and Learning Hour for all ages at 10:30 am