About Us
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We Believe…
Who is God? We believe that there is one God, in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This God is the Creator of all things, making them out of nothing, as Genesis teaches. Further, God has redeemed (bought back) His creation at the price of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. And God has called us to faith in this grace, and He keeps us in that faith, by means of the Gospel and the sacraments. Who is man? God created Adam from the dirt, and Eve from Adam's rib. These two are the ancestors of all humankind. In Eden, Adam succumbed to Satan's temptation and sinned; all born of man and woman since then inherit that fallen and sinful condition (called original sin - sin in our origins) and because of that, we sin daily in our thoughts, words, and deeds (actual sin - sin we commit by our actions). This sin (both original sin and actual sin) merit eternal punishment. Man is totally unable to free himself from sin or its consequences. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God (the Second Person of the Trinity) who has come down from heaven and become man, to save us. He is true God and true Man; Son of God and Son of Mary (yet born without sin, as He has no human father but is conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit). In our place, He lived the perfect life of obedience to the commandments and Law of God (active obedience). In our place, He suffered on the cross the full price for all sin, of all people (passive obedience). On the third day, Easter, He rose from the tomb victorious over our enemies of sin, death and the devil. He ascended into heaven, where He now rules all things for the welfare of His Church. He will return on the Last Day as Judge of all, at which time He will raise our bodies from the grave, purified of all sin and its effects, to live forever with God in the new and perfect heaven and earth He promises. Communion Policy
In accordance with the historic practice of the Christian Church, our congregation practices closed communion, meaning that normally our members and members of our sister (LCMS) congregations commune here. Please speak to the pastor about exceptions to this general practice. Please also note that this practice in no way intends to comment on the state of anyone else’s faith; we simply understand our communing together as also a public profession of unity in doctrine, which not everyone shares. Those who do not commune here may come forward for a blessing (simply fold your arms over your heart to indicate that you are not communing) or remain in the pew during communion and pray, particularly for visible unity in the Christian Church. |
How is our Church Different than Other Lutheran Churches?In the United States there are — believe it or not — over 40 different church bodies that claim to be Lutheran! However, for all practical purposes, we can speak of three main bodies (these three make up well over 90% of all American Lutherans):
1) our church, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS); 2) the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA); 3) the Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Church/Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS/ELS). In Crookston, we are the only LCMS church. Trinity and St. Paul’s belong to the ELCA. Grace Lutheran is ELS. In many ways, the LCMS and WELS/ELS agree. In fact, these church bodies were all united in a common group until about 50-60 years ago. Even today, all these bodies agree that the Bible is the Word of God, without error, and that the Book of Concord (the official statements of belief of Lutheranism) is a true explanation of the Bible. The ELCA, though, holds a different understanding of both. To them, the Bible contains the word of God. That is, the Bible (because it was written down by men) has things which are not necessarily the word of God — and it is the job of the Church (and its teachers) to decipher which parts are, and which parts are not, God’s word. However, there is much disagreement among them as to which parts are which — the end result, for all practical purposes, is that everyone cuts and pastes their own version of the Bible. Also, the Book of Concord is seen more as an historical document, describing the beliefs of Lutherans then (nearly 450 years ago) and not necessarily what Lutherans today believe. What does that mean? Well, take as an illustration the question of women as pastors. The LCMS and WELS/ELS point to Bible passages where it says that women are not to publicly teach (we would say preach) or hold authority over men in the church. Now, it is pretty hard to be a pastor if you can’t preach or teach or have authority in the church! The ELCA, though, looks at those passages and decides that they are not really God’s word — they are the addition of the human authors (like St. Paul) and reflect only the culture and thought of that time and so are not binding upon us today. Thus they allow women to serve as pastors. It is this different view of the Bible that is at the bottom of virtually all the disagreements between the LCMS/WELS/ELS and the ELCA. As mentioned in answering the question above, while this view of the Bible does not mean that ELCA members are not Christian, it IS important to recognize the danger it presents. For more information please contact us: Steven Bohler, Pastor email: [email protected] Katie Brockpahler, Business Manager email: [email protected] Or visit the Missouri Synod's website |
