The canonical books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
The three Ecumenical Creeds, namely, the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds are faithful testimonies to the truth of the Holy Scriptures.
The Unaltered Augsburg Confession is a true exposition of the Holy Scripture and a correct exhibition of the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Small and Large Catechisms of Martin Luther, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord—as contained in the Book of Concord (1580)—are also in agreement with this one Scriptural faith.
The laity of the congregation and the pastor of the congregation are pledged to live and carry out their responsibilities according to the Holy Scriptures and these confessions.
We believe, teach, and confess:
- There is only one true God: the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) as confessed in the three ecumenical creeds of historic Christianity. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
- All people are born in bondage to sin, death, and the devil, and are unable to save themselves or make themselves right with God by their own powers.
- Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our Lord and Savior from sin, death, and hell. He is both true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a perfect and holy life for us. He shed His blood for us on the cross to atone for our sins. He rose from the dead on the third day, thus declaring His victory over Satan and the grave for us.
- The Holy Spirit calls us to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ by the Word of God. The Holy Spirit delivers Christ’s forgiveness, life, and salvation to us—fully and freely as God’s undeserved gift of love—through the preaching of the Word, and through Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.
- Christ works in us, through His Word and Spirit, so that we trust in God and live in sacrificial love toward others in the vocations to which He has called us.
- The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God and the final judge of all doctrine and practice in the Church as well as in the lives of Christians.
- The sanctity of all human life from conception until death; of marriage between one man and one woman; and of human sexuality within marriage both as an expression of love between a man and a woman and for the procreation of children.
- Christ will come again on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him.