FAITH'S MISSION:
"We, God's welcoming family of Faith, full of enthusuastic disciples, learn and serve together, worshipping God, nurturing one another, and heeding God's call to work as Christ's body in partnership with church and community leaders locally and globally."
OUTREACH:
Jesus commissioned his disciples, "Go therefore into all nations baptizing and teaching in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit." (Mt. 28:19-20)
As disciples for Christ, our mission is to live out God's Great Commission by sharing our time, talents and treasures with others.
There are a number of annual and ongoing ministries, in which the Disciples of Faith share and serve God, together.
In conjunction with other congregations in our community, the people of Faith collect staple goods and non-perishable food, which are donated to and distributed by Sacred Heart Catholic Church for those in need.
Blessed to be Ambassadors for Christ to Westside Elementary School, we serve as a resource filling special needs, as they arise.
Recognizing that our building is a facility, and that we, the people of Faith are the Church, we invite others into our facility for a variety of services, such as the TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly), and Our own clothes closet.
Our outreach is local and global:
* Lutheran Social Services
* Samaritan's Purse -Shoebox Ministry
* Support for Habitat for Humanity & Salvation Army
* Safe House Shelter -Women & Children
* Clothing Closet
* Community-wide VBS
History of "Lutheran"
Our name "Lutheran" is rooted in the person of Martin Luther, who lived in the sixteenth century. Luther is not a prophet, but simply a scholary person who had some good things to say. He was a professor, writer, musician, monk, and a pastor. In 1517, he led a protest against corruptions in the established church, which marked the beginning of the great German Reformation.
Believing strongly that the Word of God should be available for people to read, Luther was the first to translate the Bible from Greek to German. It was the first time everyday people could read the Scriptures, at home, in their own language.
Luther's doctrinal statements, found in the Book of Concord, includes the large and the small catechism, which enabled people to learn and teach their families about God, in the home.
As a composer, among the many hymns he wrote, is his loved hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God". He was first to begin hymn singing at worship. He started the practice of giving both elements in Holy Communion.
Among his many writings, he was unyielding on three points:
* Scriptures are the supreme authority for a Christian's life and faith
* All believers are "Priests" for God
* Christians are justified by grace through faith
Luther died in 1546, but his reforms and contributions to the Church have continued. Luther was an intrument of God, spreading the Good News of God's mercy in Jesus Christ.
By the number of Lutherans having increased by 3.5 million people worldwide in 2004, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church is blessed to be part of a worshiping body of over 69,500,000 disciples. Our worship style is liturgical, which means that everyone shares in the order of worship. In worship, we gather together to praise God for the blessings and grace God showers upon us. We share in reading the Holy Scriptures and hearing God's Word, as it applies to our lives and connects us with the ways in which God calls us (as disciples of Christ) respectively, each according to our abilities. Together, we celebrate the Great Thanksgiving as Jesus Christ comes to us in his Holy Sacrament.
Fed by God's Word in the giving of Jesus Christ, we are nourished and called to live the Great Commission to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I (Jesus) have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20).
