1. This church confesses the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
2. This church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the
Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe
- Jesus
Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom everything
was made and through whose life, death, and resurrection
God fashions a new creation.
- The proclamation
of God's message to us as both Law and Gospel is the Word of
God, revealing judgment and mercy
through word and deed, beginning with the Word in creation, continuing in the
history of
Israel, and centering in all its fullness in
the person and work of Jesus Christ.
- The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the written
Word of God. Inspired by God's Spirit speaking
through their authors, they record and announce God's revelation centering in
Jesus Christ.
Through them God's Spirit speaks to us to create
and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world.
3. This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of
the Old and New Testaments as the
inspired Word of God and the authoritative
source
and norm of its proclamation, faith,
and life.
4. This church accepts the Apostles',
Nicene, and Athanasian
Creeds as true declarations of the faith
of this church.
5. This church accepts the Unaltered
Augsburg Confession as
a true witness to the Gospel, acknowledging as
one with it In faith
and doctrine all churches that
likewise accept the teachings
of the Unaltered Augsburg
Confession.
6. This church accepts
the other confessional
writings in the Book
of Concord, namely,
the Apology of the
Augsburg
Confession, the
Smalcald Articles and
the Treatise, the Small Catechism,
the Large
Catechism, and the
Formula of Concord, as further
valid interpretations
of the faith of the
Church.
7. This church confesses
the Gospel, recorded
in the Holy Scriptures
and confessed in
the ecumenical
creeds
and Lutheran
confessional
writings, as the
power of God to create and
sustain the Church
for God's mission
in
the world.
An
ELCA congregation