What do Lutherans believe? (From www.elca.org)
Lutherans are Christians who accept the teachings of Martin Luther (1483 – 1546). Luther was a German theologian who realized that there were significant differences between what he read in the Bible and the practices of the Roman Catholic Church at that time. On October 31, 1517, he posted a challenge on the door of Wittenberg University, titled “95 Theses” (to debate 95 theological issues). His hope was that the church would reform its practice and preaching to be more consistent with the Word of God as contained in the Bible.
What started as an academic debate escalated into a distinct separation between the Roman Catholic Church of the time and those who accepted Luther’s suggested reforms. "Lutheran" became the name of the group that agreed with Luther’s convictions.
Today, nearly five centuries later, Lutherans still celebrate the Reformation on October 31 and still hold to the basic principles of Luther’s theological teachings, such as Grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone. These comprise the very essence of Lutheranism:
• We are saved by the grace of God alone -- not by anything we do;
• Our salvation is through faith alone -- we only need to trust God made known in Christ who promises us forgiveness, life and
salvation.
• The Bible is the norm for faith and life -- the true standard by which teachings and doctrines are to be judged.
Click here to read the rest of this article and more about Lutheranism on the ELCA website.
Update on Recent Actions Taken by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We are writing this letter to you as members of Christ the King Lutheran Church so that you are informed about the decisions that have been made at our church-wide assembly in Minneapolis this week. Even though we have striven to keep the congregation well informed, some will still be surprised by the decisions made by the delegates from the 65 synods of the ELCA who met in assembly this week.
The ELCA has been developing a social statement on human sexuality for years and approved a statement last week. Many in the ELCA, our congregation included, had serious theological and biblical issues with parts of the statement.
Also, four recommendations from the task force on ministry policies were approved. The three main ministry recommendations are listed below and they are written in the language that the assembly approved.
RESOLVED, that in the implementation of any resolutions on ministry policies, the ELCA commit itself to bear one another’s burdens, love the neighbor, and respect the bound consciences of all.
RESOLVED, that the ELCA commit itself to finding ways to allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.
RESOLVED, that the ELCA commit itself to finding a way for people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church.
The fourth resolve dealt with the implementation of the above resolutions. Because of the length of this resolution we did not include it in this letter. The full text is available at www.elca.org.
Your congregational council has met and discussed these issues and our congregation voted to become a member of Lutheran Core last year. Lutheran Core is comprised of ELCA pastors and congregations who wish to maintain the traditional interpretation of scripture. Currently, our congregation gives benevolence to our local Southeastern Synod, money that was previously sent to the National ELCA office is now being sent to Lutheran Core. In the next months, Lutheran Core will meet and your church council will be making recommendations regarding our future in the ELCA.
We as a congregation are committed to living the gospel through word and deed. As pastors and council members, we do not support these changes in our church's policy. As members of Christ the King, you need to know that even though these changes are contrary to our understanding of scripture no one can force us to implement them or change the way we conduct ministry in this congregation.
Living together as the body of Christ is a difficult undertaking to say the least. Christ calls us to follow his example of leadership and ministry while obeying the commands of the Father. This will be a difficult time for some but if we remain committed to our mission and vision and keep our eyes fixed on the cross we will continue to fulfill the mission that Christ has set before us. We urge that you continue to keep our church, the two of us, and your church council and all churches in your prayers. We promise that we will keep you updated on this issue. We are always available to address your questions and concerns.
In Christ's Service,
Pastor David Keener
Pastor Alex Hoffner
The Church Council of Christ the King Lutheran Church
Here are some other links you may find helpful:
Augsburg Confession – All orthodox Lutheran church bodies base their teachings upon this treatise because they believe that it is faithful to the Word of God.
The writings of Martin Luther including his Large and Small Catechism
Lutheran CORE - Coalition for Reform
A broad-based coalition of ELCA pastors, laity, congregations, and reforming groups that seek to preserve in that church body the authority of the Word of God according to the Lutheran confessions.
We are a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) you can find many helpful resources on their website www.elca.org
