 Mellingers Evangelical Lutheran Church, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, believes that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. We know Christ in Word and Sacrament and through the Holy Spirit working among us. We believe in two Sacraments: Baptism and Eucharist. Jesus told us to do these things and they are common elements (water, bread and wine) through which the Holy Spirit brings the blessings of Salvation, Forgiveness and Spiritual Nourishment.
We believe in the Holy Bible as the Divinely inspired Word of God which is the norm for our beliefs and practices and use the insights of Martin Luther and of the Augsburg Confessions and the Apostle Paul to help us understand what Scripture means for us. (The bobble head dolls above are Martin and Katie Luther.)
We believe in the Grace of God and of the important dynamic of Law and Gospel which both work together in Old and New Testament and in our lives today.
We respect other faiths in an ecumenical understanding of the great mystery of God.
We believe that Christ alone accomlishes salvation for believers and that our works which are fruits of the Spirit are never enough to "work our way to heaven". Luther called this "works righteousness". We believe that our task is discipleship and "let God be God" and do not try to "do God's job" in an arrogant and impossible attempt to save ourselves.
We believe that we are both Saint and sinner: left to ourselves we wander but are Saints as a part of the Holy Church which is the Body of Christ. We become a part of the Body of Christ in Holy Baptism which can occur at any time in life, including infancy, as Baptism is a work of God not of people, is not our decision for Jesus but is Christ's decision for us.
We believe that we are called to help those in need as Christ did and to go to all and proclaim the Good news of Christ. We confess the Apostles and Athanasian Creeds.
We are more inclined to forgive than to condemn but encourage true repentance of sins and newness of life in Christ. Some believers condemn people for being human and demand that they be Divine. Lutheranism allows people to be human and encourages them to be Divine. It's real.
Please feel free to contact Pastor Craven at any time to discuss any of these beliefs or questions you might have regarding them. We learn by studying, praying and conversing together.
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