Central Lutheran Church is a community of various backgrounds and beliefs, drawn together by the love of Jesus Christ, our care for each other, and our passion for our community. At Central Lutheran, all people are welcome, and all means all.
We believe that all people are created in the image of God, that all people are of sacred worth, and that Christ died for all people. We believe that God’s radically inclusive love excludes no one. We welcome everyone without exception, regardless of age, race, ethnic background, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, family or socioeconomic status, educational background, political affiliation, physical or mental ability, faith history or life experience. We believe that the diversity of God’s creation is part of what makes it beautiful.
We are a church where it is safe to disagree about important things and still remain united in the love of Jesus. We have diverse perspectives on faith, and we have differences in perspective on theology and biblical interpretation. We accept, respect, and love one another along our faith journeys.
No matter who you are, where you’re from, or what you believe, you are always welcome at Central Lutheran Church.
We are what God has made us – people whom God has created by grace to live in union with Jesus Christ and has prepared to live faithful, fruitful lives by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8-10). In Jesus Christ, God has reconciled us to God and to each other. As we gather around word and sacraments, this life in Christ is what defines, shapes and guides us as a community of faith, the church.
By God’s grace we can and do live confidently and generously in this community of faith and in service of others, amid the mysteries and paradoxes of this life in Christ – including our human limitations and failings, and the ambiguities, uncertainties and suffering that we experience.
We are a church that walks by faith, trusting God's promise in the gospel and knowing that we exist by and for the proclamation of this gospel word. We proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead for the life of the world. As the apostle Paul wrote (Romans 1:16-17), and we echo in our Constitution (2.02), we are not ashamed of this gospel ministry because it is God’s power for saving all people who trust the God who makes these promises. “We are to fear and love God, so, that we do not despise preaching or God’s word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear it and learn it” (Small Catechism). God’s word, specifically God’s promise in Jesus Christ, creates this liberated, confident and generous faith. God gives the Holy Spirit who uses gospel proclamation – in preaching and sacraments, in forgiveness and in healing conversations – to create and sustain this faith. As a Lutheran church, we give central place to this gospel message in our ministry.
We understand to be Lutheran is to be ecumenical – committed to the oneness to which God calls the world in the saving gift of Jesus Christ, recognizing the brokenness of the church in history and the call of God to heal this disunity.
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