Being Lutheran
Lutheranism is…
Lutheranism is a Christian tradition that accepts the Bible as the true source of Christian love, guidance and doctrine. Lutherans proclaim God’s message by focusing on justification by faith, which means we are saved by God’s love, not by our good works.
God’s love is unconditional.
It’s a simple statement that means more than we could ever explain. It is because of this unconditional love that we meet to praise God in worship, that we are strengthened through the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, and that we go out to share that same unconditional love with those in our communities.
Lutheranism had its beginnings in the universities of Medieval Germany when a Catholic priest, lawyer and professor, Martin Luther, publically asked the church to consider and reform issues which he thought were plaguing the Holy Roman Empire. For himself, Martin Luther struggled with the need to do the right things to assure his salvation. Through prayer and study, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he made his theories known for debate in the public square. It is this spirit of constant reform, of studying, questioning, praying and thinking that we as the Lutheran church bring to bear in our daily faith lives.
Lutherans also distinguish themselves from other Protestant sects by the way we worship. We are a liturgical church. This means that the people who worship are as important to the praise and honor of God as is the pastor, the lector and the choir. Liturgy actually means work of the people. There is an order that we follow – freeing us to worship in meaningful and relevant ways.