What is a Lutheran?

Lutherans are Christians who follow the teachings of Martin Luther. 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. In October 31 of 1517 Luther wrote a letter to the Archbishop that came to be known as The 95 Thesis. 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.


Today, nearly five centuries later, Lutherans still hold to the basic principles of Luther’ s theological teachings:


Over the years, different Lutheran church bodies have been established and organized to meet the needs of Lutherans in communities and nations all over the world. Our Savior’ s is a congregational member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which is the largest Lutheran group in North America. The ELCA is part of a reforming movement within the whole Christian church. As a part of practicing our faith, we have engaged in ecumenical dialogue with other Christian church bodies which has produced cooperate "full communion" agreements (sharing common convictions about theology, mission and worship) with several other Protestant denominations including Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists and the United Church of Christ.


We believe that we are called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out our lives in service to the world. Through acts of love and justice, worship and witness, we share God’ s boundless love with the world. Through Christ, we are united with other Christians and we recognize a wide fellowship of churches. We work alongside them in ecumenical ministry and service. Our Lutheran Faith is a faith tradition that is open to all, regardless of background. We welcome you to learn more about our church and find out how we can help you along life’ s path.