What We Believe

First Lutheran is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the largest Lutheran body in our country. It is a vibrant and energetic body of believers that focuses its life on the graciousness of God that is rooted in the crucified and raised Jesus. Since our focus is discovered there, we believe that all are welcome here.

We believe the church to be a hospital for sinners, not a country club for those who have it all together. We believe that our congregation is a place where all are free to search for answers and free to ask tough questions admitting sometimes that the answers will evade us. We, as a community of believers, believe that a vital Christian life is served by a regular confrontation with the Word of God that meets us in the Bible and with the sacraments (baptism and communion), tangible expressions of the goodness of God. In response to that goodness, we believe that we are called to be servants to one another and to the community we are a part of. We believe strongly that our facility should be used not only by ourselves but also by the community that surrounds our building. We believe, too, that we are called to reach out to a hurting world with a message of hope and with concrete signs of God’s love. Service for us comes out of a joyful response to the God who has loved us first.

Our Mission

First Lutheran Church is a community of Christians who gather regularly to experience the Word of God and to receive God’s grace and forgiveness through the sacraments. Gifted by God in diverse ways, we seek to serve God faithfully in our community and to encourage one another towards active Christian commitment. As stewards of Christ’s gifts, we focus particularly on teaching and modeling God’s grace, inviting others to join us in our commitment to ministry, training leaders and involving youth.

Our Vision

As sinners loved and called by God, we are a vibrant family of faith, encouraging and serving in the name of Jesus Christ.

Our Goals

First Lutheran will highlight discipleship (following Jesus) as essential to what it means for us to be the church.

• We will speak often of the joy that life in our congregation brings, celebrating the bonds that develop in an authentic and vulnerable Christian community.
• We will urge the disciples of our community to see their connection to our congregation as a matter of active involvement.
• We will encourage the disciples of our community to follow Jesus through sacrificial financial giving.
• We will organize our congregational life with mission, service, and ministry in mind.
• We will focus on saints of the church like Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose lives reflect the costly discipleship of Jesus.