About God
We believe in the one Triune God, who has existed without beginning or end in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Though God exists in three Persons, he is one God. God created everything out of nothing, both what we can observe and what we cannot observe. He also sustains everything and manages His creation.
About Sin and Salvation
Though everything was made good by God, Adam and Eve, the first persons, brought sin into our world. This sin corrupted them and all of creation, causing widespread death and corruption. God knew that this would happen and had a plan to rescue all of creation. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for all sin. Jesus suffered the punishment of all sin through His crucifixion, and He won that victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil at His resurrection. Now, God offers eternal life to all who believe in Jesus and His work.
About the Church
We confess in each of our creeds that we believe in the "one holy apostolic Church," consisting of all believers throughout time. We use church in many ways! Trinity Lutheran Church is composed of its members and facilities. Our congregation is a member of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, who believes that the church consists of any place where the Word of God is rightly preached and the Sacraments are rightly administered. The church extends into heaven as well, where all of the saints (believers) are resting.
About Holy Scripture
The Holy Scriptures, commonly known as the Bible, is God's inspired word that has been recorded by humans. The Scriptures reveal to us God's plan for the world and the method of our salvation. They also give us a history of God's people and their part in the salvation story. We believe God's Word to be infallible and inerrant. Everything in our faith is centered around the Scriptures and our understanding of them.
About the Sacraments
The Sacraments are a tangible way that our Lord delivers the forgiveness of sins to His people. Lutherans subscribe to two Sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion. A Sacrament is identified by three characteristics:
1. Established by Jesus during His ministry on earth
2. Delivers the forgiveness of sins
3. Uses a physical element
About Holy Communion
The Sacrament of the Altar is the "true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink." (Small Catechism)
We take these words of Jesus seriously. When a person comes to the rail, they receive the true body and blood of our Lord and Savior. This real presence is not dependent upon whether the person believes them or not--they are dependent on the words of Jesus, one Person of the Triune God. Jesus invites all baptized believers to the table who repent of their sins, examine themselves, trusts in His words, and affirm what is taught about the Sacrament in the Scriptures.
We practice closed communion, meaning that our confirmed members and others confirmed members of the LCMS are welcome at our table. We do not wish to be exclusionary; we are acting in a manner that protects those who may take the Lord's Supper to their detriment. (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) Anyone who is not a confirmed member our church or the LCMS is welcome to receive a blessing at the Lord's Table.
About Baptism
The Holy Scriptures teach us that we are all conceived and born in sin. The Scriptures also teach us that baptism delivers the forgiveness of sins. This promise is for people of all ages, including (but not limited to!) infants and young children. We continue in the Church's tradition of baptizing people of all ages.
Baptisms are scheduled during all times of the year. If you have a child, please schedule a baptism as soon as possible! You can contact the Church Office to begin the process of scheduling a baptism.
About the Creeds
We profess our faith every week at worship using one of the three ecumenical (meaning, "belonging to the church") creeds: The Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. These creeds serve as a confession (or "statement") of faith, unifying our congregation with the ancient and modern church.
What is Lutheranism?
Very briefly, a monk named Martin Luther found various abuses in the church in the early 16th century and sought to correct them. Chief among those abuses was the denial of the doctrine that people are saved through grace without any merit on their own (Grace alone), given to us by faith (Faith alone), and given to us through the Scriptures (Scripture alone). This grew into a movement that was expelled from the Roman Catholic Church, who labelled all of the various reformers "Lutherans." Luther was abhorred by the idea that a church body would be named after him, but the name stuck.
Lutherans subscribe to the Book of Concord, which is a collection of writings from the time of the Reformation. We hold them to be a "correct exposition" of Holy Scripture in that it explains the doctrines contained in the Bible, but we do not consider the Book of Concord to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. To be a member of Trinity, one must subscribe to the Small Catechism.
About The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
Trinity is a member of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, an association of congregations throughout North America and the world! You can find out more about the LCMS by visiting their website, lcms.org.