What We Believe

St. Andrew Lutheran Church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). We teach, preach, and live an active, vibrant faith in the Triune God - Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer (aka Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We trust in the power of God for salvation, not just in the afterlife to come, but in our lives today. This is our witness in worship, learning, community, and action.

We are a church that welcomes questions and admits we do not have all the answers. We turn to scripture, prayer, and the grace and mercy of God to guide us. We are not a homogenous community but welcome diversity of thought, lifestyles, backgrounds, and abilities. We welcome the certain and the seeker. We welcome the lost and the loved. We welcome the bold and the timid. We welcome all because we believe the gifts of God are FOR ALL.

We believe in serving others, sharing God’s abundant resources, and offering gifts of hospitality, housing, justice advocacy, and more. We do God’s work with our hands. Our faith saturates all of life in small groups and at sick beds, in private devotions, and in daily work. All are invited to join the shared mission, filled with God’s forgiveness and grace; we seek to bring healing, wholeness, and justice to all people and creation.

The church’s official Confession of Faith identifies the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, and the Lutheran confessional writings of the Book of Concord as the basis of our teaching. The name Lutheran comes from Martin Luther, a reformer of the 1500s. We do not worship Luther, but we follow Luther’s teaching that we are saved through faith by grace, and this is not our own doing but the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Read our Vision, Mission, and Core Values.

Reflecting Jesus’ calling, we, the community of St. Andrew, proclaim that the gifts of God are for all, so we welcome and advocate for equity and justice for… All abilities and disabilities, All believers and unbelievers, All races and ethnicities, All religions and creeds, All gender identities and expressions, All countries of origin, All sexual orientations, All immigrants and refugees, All economic levels, All spoken and signed languages, All…no exceptions!