WHO WE ARE

We’re Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, and our name pretty much says it all.  

We’re not a denomination, we’re a movement.  We view the local church as the place where people in the community come to get connected with God and one another.  We celebrate the fact that everyone is wired a little differently; it allows each and every one of us to serve according to our own unique strengths, skills and talents.

WE'RE FREE IN CHRIST

In Romans 6, Paul explains that those who follow Jesus receive God’s grace and are freed from being burdened by their sin.  In LCMC, we celebrate this freedom.  We also place a great emphasis on understanding what it means to follow Jesus, then doing it.

We understand that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to ministry because different communities often have different needs, backgrounds and cultures.  Rather than micromanaging what they do, we give our members the freedom to be creative in how they do ministry, working together to transform the lives of others and fulfill the Great Commission that Jesus set forth in Matthew 28.   

While we think it’s important to make promises to God rather than to an institution, we also think it’s important to have standards and practices in place for holding one another accountable when it comes to ministry.

WE'RE ACCOUNTABLE TO ONE ANOTHER

In LCMC, “ accountability" happens in three distinct ways: 

  • First of all, when concerns are raised, the Board of Trustees always operates directly with the congregation to discern what has happened and what might be the best course of action. Unfortunately, there have been times when the name of a congregation has been brought to the convention to consider removing them from our list.  Our association has given the Board of Trustees authority to remove congregations when they are no longer practicing our faith according to the Lutheran Confessions and Scripture. Over the years we have removed congregations, but have done so with heavy hearts.
  • Secondly, our Ministry Board has been given the charge to recommend to the Board of Trustees the removal of pastors when necessary.  Again, this happens in a direct conversation, by the members of the Ministry Board, and our staff, hoping to restore a pastor while at the same time upholding the integrity of our core values and of our association as a whole.  Over the years, we have had to remove pastors but always hoping for restoration and reconciliation.  
  • Finally, we hope and expect that as pastors and congregations interact, there unfolds a “mutual accountability” that happens on a much more personal level.  This is the highest form of accountability—where it is carried out among those who know, love and respect one another.
WE'RE ROOTED IN THE SCRIPTURES AND THE LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS

We strive to be a light to the world, not a reflection of it. We view God’s word as the #1 authority when it comes to our faith and how we practice it. While we understand that science, personal experience, tradition and other factors contribute to the conversations that we have, we do not believe that they have equal influence to what’s written in the Scriptures. We believe the Lutheran Confessions to be a faithful witness to the truth of Scripture and that they give us reliable principles by which to guide the continued development of this association.

STATEMENT OF BELIEF

We believe, teach, and confess the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe, teach, and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe in him.

  • Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom everything was made and through whose life, death, and resurrection God fashions a new creation.
  • The proclamation of God's message to us as both law and gospel is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy in the person and work of Jesus Christ through whom God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself.
  • The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God. Inspired by God's Spirit speaking through their authors, they record and announce God's revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through them God's Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world.

We believe, teach, and accept the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the sole authoritative source and norm of our proclamation, faith, and life.

We accept the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as true declarations of the scriptural faith we believe, teach, and confess.

We believe, teach, and accept the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism as true witnesses to the Word of God, normative for our teaching and practice. We acknowledge that we are one in faith and doctrine with all churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.

We believe, teach, and confess the other confessional writings in the Book of Concord namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as further valid expositions of the Holy Scriptures.

We believe, teach, and confess the gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the priesthood of all believers for God's mission in the world.

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