We are a Lutheran Church who holds to the final authority of holy scripture.
We believe that our Lutheran confessions and formularies are a consistent representation of what scripture teaches.
We confess that God is the loving Creator of all people and that He created humanity in His image as male and female (Genesis 1:27).
We believe that God’s design for gender and sexuality is revealed in Holy Scripture and affirmed by Jesus Himself: that sexual intimacy is a gift reserved for the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6), and that our bodily existence as male or female is part of God’s good creation, not a mistake to be corrected (Psalm 139:13–16). Everything outside of that standard is sin and/or disorder.
At the same time, we acknowledge that because of the fall of mankind into sin, all of us experience disorder, broken desires, unhealthy addiction, and confusion, not only in matters of sexuality, but in every area of life (Romans 1: 16-31, 3:23). No one approaches God from a place of moral wholeness or self-sufficiency. Because we all bear the stain of original sin, the lens through which we see the world is distorted and curved in toward ourselves. (Augsburg Confession II, Original Sin)
We therefore proclaim clearly and without qualification that God calls every person to Himself through Jesus Christ exactly as they are.
Christ welcomes sinners, bears their guilt, forgives their sins, and justifies them by grace alone through faith alone (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:8–9).
No struggle, temptation, or past sin places someone beyond the reach of His mercy.
Yet the same grace that receives us also transforms us. God does not affirm sin or leave us as we are when we are called, but through His Word and Spirit works repentance, renewal, and growth in holiness, conforming us to the image of His Son (Romans 12:1–2; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Love doesn’t affirm or embrace sin, but rather it actively works for the true betterment of its object by calling all sinners to turn toward Christ, and therefore, away from sin.
This lifelong work of practicle sanctification is marked by patience, humility, compassion, sometimes painful struggle, and the daily need for forgiveness.
As a faithful congregation within the universal Church, we seek to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15),
to uphold God’s good design faithfully, and to walk alongside all people with gentleness and respect, as far as we are able.
We commit ourselves to being a community where:
● Sinners are welcomed
● Christ is proclaimed,
● Correction, accountability, and discipline is present,
● Forgiveness is given,
● And lives are continually being shaped by His grace and truth.
