Church Affiliation
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) as part of the Central States Synod. These are just fancy words for how the church leadership is structured. In today's world, many churches are removing their church denomination from their names because it "scares" away people who have not been raised in a church-going family, but may be seeking a relationship with God. We have greater faith in God's guidance, and have a commitment to tell you our values as ELCA members because we have a great story to tell! To learn more about our guiding philosophies, please visit these links to ELCA.org:
What We Believe
So how does all that makes us different in our view of Christianity in the world? Well, as Pastor Larry likes to say, we are the "Good News" Christians! The Good News is that we are ALL saved by "Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone". We welcome ALL who have accepted the redeeming power of Jesus as their Savior to come to His table and receive Holy Communion - you don't have to be a member, you just have to believe. Faith is between you and God, and God is on your side! Our community of faith does not exist to mold you in our image, God already did that, but to help each other through study, worship, service, so we may grow in our relationship to God. We are bound to each other in Christian love, respecting each other's convictions even if we may not always agree with the beliefs or choices they reflect. But we are obligated in Christian unity to a relationship with our neighbors bound by love. "Treat others as you would have them treat you." Matthew 7:12
Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered and sent for the sake of the world. This is the mission statement of the ELCA. As members of the ELCA, we believe that we are freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor. With our hands, we do God’s work of restoring and reconciling communities in Jesus’ name throughout the world.
See more at: http://www.elca.org/en/About/Mission#sthash.7rDTpkP5.dpuf
A merger of three Lutheran churches formed the ELCA in 1988. They were The American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the Lutheran Church in America.
See more at: http://www.elca.org/About/History#sthash.g1vGBvbh.dpuf
Read more about Scripture, Creeds and Confessions at the following link:
http://www.elca.org/Faith/ELCA-Teaching/Scripture-Creeds-Confessions
The ELCA is committed to fostering unity among the children of God for the sake of the world. The ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations team is responsible for encouraging the activity of ecumenical and interreligious life in this church and enhancing the public commitments of this church in Lutheran, ecumenical and interfaith circles.
See more at:
http://www.elca.org/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations#sthash.d5oM6fgo.dpuf