Our Beliefs

The ELCA was formed in 1988 by the merger of three Lutheran bodies: the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. We are grounded in God’s promise in the Scriptures to comfort, accompany, and redeem. As Lutherans, we believe that God works through both law and gospel, calling us to serve our neighbors and providing mercy, hope, and joy through Jesus Christ in modern, often unsettling times.

Our church’s teaching centers on God’s unreserved mercy in Christ: sinners are justified by grace through faith, not works. Faith is living and active, born of Scripture’s promise. This church dares to proclaim God’s mercy and God’s desire for well-being for the church and the world.

Lutheranism began as a reform movement within medieval Europe’s church. In the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, the early reformers' witness shaped our beliefs: a living, daring confidence in God’s grace at the center of faith and life.