On God

We believe in one God who has revealed Himself to us in three Divine Persons—God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Gen. 1:26-27; Num. 6:24-26; Deut. 6:4; Ps. 2:7; Is. 48:16; Matt. 3:16-17, 28:19

On God's Word
We believe that this Triune God has caused His Word to be recorded in the Old and New Testaments by inspiration of the Holy Spirit; therefore, the Bible has no mistakes or errors of any kind (inerrant) and can be trusted absolutely (infallible).
John 5:39, 10:35; Rom. 3:2; 1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21

On Creation
We believe that by His almighty Word God created a perfect world in six days.
Gen. 1-2; Exodus 20:8-11; Ps. 33:6; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 11:3

On the Fall - Original Sin
We believe that this perfect world was ruined by Adam and Eve's rebellion against their Creator. Their sin has corrupted all humanity so that all people are now conceived and born dead in sin and are under God's wrath.
Gen. 3; Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:23; 5:12-19, 6:23, 7:18, 8:7-8; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1-3

On Jesus Christ
We believe that out of pure, undeserved love God sent His eternal Son into our sinful world to take on our flesh and to satisfy God's anger against our sins by His perfect life and His innocent suffering and death on the cross.
Matt. 17:5; John 1:1, 3:16-18, 8:58; Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 1:7, 5:20

On the Resurrection
We believe that this same Son of God, Jesus Christ, not only died for the sins of humanity but that He rose bodily from the dead after three days.
Matt. 28; Mark. 16; Luke. 24; John. 20; Rom. 1:4, 4:25, 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:14-18

On Salvation
We believe that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight.
Romans 3:21-26; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:19-20; Eph. 2:8-9

On the Gospel and Evangelism
We believe that for Jesus' sake God has graciously pardoned the sins of the entire world and it is this good news or “Gospel” which Jesus wants His Church to proclaim to all people.
Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47; Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20

On the Means of Grace
We believe that God distributes His forgiveness and is present today among His people through the "means of grace" (the Word and Sacraments).
John 5:39; 1 Cor. 1:21, 15:1-2; Eph. 1:7-9; Col. 1:28; 2 Tim. 3:15-17

On the Church
We believe that God's Church is found wherever these means of grace are found (the pure preaching of the Word and the right administration of the Sacraments).
Is. 55:10-11; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:42

On Baptism
We believe that Baptism is a "means of grace;" through which God, by water and His mighty Word, calls people (including infants and little children) into His Kingdom, giving them the new birth of faith, and forgiving them all their sins.
Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:16; John 3:3-6; Rom. 6:3-4; Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5

On the Lord's Supper
We believe that the Lord's Supper is a "means of grace;" in which our risen Savior gives all communicants His true body to eat and His true blood to drink hidden in, with, and under the outward forms of bread and wine for the forgiveness of all their sins.
Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 10:16, 11:23-29

On Modern Revelation
We believe that the Holy Spirit no longer speaks directly to people as He did to the prophets and apostles in the Bible but works in us today through the Ministry of Word and Sacrament alone.
Matt. 7:21-23, 24:24; Eph. 4:11

On the Ministry
We believe that, through congregations such as ours, God calls qualified men into the public “Ministry of Word and Sacrament” to represent Him, to speak His Word in His place, and to administer the Sacraments according to His institution.
Matt 28:19-20; Acts 20:28; Rom. 10:15; 2 Cor. 5:18, Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; 2 Tim. 4:3-5

On the Last Day
We believe that our risen Savior, Jesus, will return visibly to this world on the Last Day, as He has promised, to assign all unbelievers to eternal punishment in hell but to give all believers eternal life with Him in the Resurrection unto life everlasting.
Matt. 25:31-46; Luke 21:27, 36; 1 Thess. 4:14, 17

On the Church's Confession
We believe that all the teachings of the Lutheran Church, as we have learned to know them from Luther's Small Catechism and as they are more thoroughly explained in the other Lutheran Confessions, are true and correct statements of the teachings of the Bible and reflect our own personal faith today.
Matt. 10:32; John 8:31-32; 1 Tim. 4:11; 6:3-4; Titus 2:1

On Worship
We believe that harmony and uniformity among God’s people should be encouraged as St. Paul teaches Romans 15:5 so that we might all “with one heart and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 15:6; hence we use historic liturgies and Lutheran hymnody in all Divine Services. Diversity and innovation in worship should be weighed thoughtfully, in an orderly and appropriate way, without giving offense, to the benefit of the Church’s overall Christian discipline and instruction in the Faith.
Rom. 15:5-6; 1 Cor. 8:9-12, 14:26-40

On Order in this Congregation
This congregation, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (St. John’s), operates according to its own constitution and bylaws and therein establishes an orderly way of making decisions and determines which individuals or entities in the congregation (e.g., the Congregational Assembly and its officers, the Council of Deacons, the pastor(s), other staff, or the various boards) will have authority to act on behalf of the congregation in specific circumstances.

In general, planning and implementation of the congregation’s mission is delegated by the Congregational Assembly to the Council of Deacons in accordance with and subject to the requirements of our constitution and bylaws.

All controversies arising in this congregation are decided and settled in accordance with the Confessional Standard stated in Article II of our constitution. The constitution and bylaws of St. John’s along with various adopted policies, governing this congregation are available on this website.

St. John’s, as its primary mission, operates a day school. The overall operation of the school is under the authority of the congregation through its Congregational Assembly, elected officers, Council of Deacons, and the various boards. Authority over the day-to-day operation of the school is delegated by the congregation through the Council of Deacons to the school administrator, along with faculty and staff.

St. John’s is a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS or Synod). As a member of the LCMS, St. John’s agrees to act in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod and to respect, honor, and uphold decisions (resolutions) made by the Synod in its national conventions regarding the understanding of the teachings of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions and practices that are consistent with such teaching.

On Marriage
We believe that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive, lifelong union as described in Scripture (Gen. 2: 18-25; Matt. 19: 4-6). Marriage, as created and instituted by God, serves a sacred purpose as a picture of the marriage between Christ and His bride the Church (Eph. 5:32). It has been and remains the policy of this congregation that our pastors will not officiate over any marriages inconsistent with those beliefs, and our church property may not be used for any marriage ceremony, reception or other activity that would be inconsistent with our beliefs and this policy. We also recognize and support our pastors’ right of refusal to perform a wedding ceremony that goes against his conscience or conflicts with our congregation’s other stated beliefs. In such circumstances, we also do not permit the use of our facilities.

This page of belief statements was formally adopted by the Congregational Assembly on March 17, 2019 Policy of Marriage adopted August 20, 2019

Statement of Beliefs Regarding Gender, Marriage, and Human Sexuality
We believe that God wonderfully creates each person as male or female and that one’s gender does not change. Each of these two, distinct, complementary genders reflects the image of God in its own right and according to His purposes (Gen. 1:26-27; Mark 10:6-9, 1 Cor. 7:1-11, 32-38). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the Creator and His natural order (Rom. 1:18-32).

We believe that the term marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive, lifelong union, as delineated in Scripture (Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 19:4-6). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1 Cor. 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.

We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matt. 15:18- 20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10). We also believe that divorce for reasons not permitted in Scripture is sinful and offensive to God (Matt. 19:4-6).

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, as St. Paul also proclaims, “such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11; see also Acts 3:19-21). If you desire this forgiveness and restoration with God, please contact one of our pastors that they may share with you the Means of Grace (insert link).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of St. John’s.

We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the St. John’s members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by St. John’s in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Gender, Marriage, and Human Sexuality (Matt. 5:16; Phil. 2:14-16; 1 Thess. 5:22).

Statement of Belief Regarding the Sanctity of Human Life
We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 9:6; Jer. 1:5; Matt. 19:4; 1 Cor. 11:7-8). Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including the prenatal, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life
(Ps. 10; Ps. 82:1-4; Ps. 139; Prov. 31:8-9; Matt. 22:39; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14).

Belief statements were formally adopted by the Congregational Assembly on March 17, 2019. The policy on Marriage was adopted on August 20, 2019.