What We Believe
Our Vision
We dedicate ourselves to sharing God’s unconditional love and telling the story of Jesus to all.
Being Lutheran
A Lutheran is, first and foremost, a Christian. “Christian” is the noun, and “Lutheran” becomes the adjective. Being Lutheran is one way of being Christian. It is not the best way or the only way. It has specific distinctive characteristics that define it.
We are part of a denomination called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This 4 million-member church is connected to the wider Lutheran World Federation, which represents Lutheran Christians all over the world. We are united by several essential elements of our faith.
There are many more elements to being Lutheran. We invite you to explore this page and contact Pastor Kinndlee directly to set up an appointment. She would be happy to discuss any questions with you.
What we believe at CLC
We believe in God’s grace. We trust that all people are made whole or “saved” by God, as a gift. We cannot earn God’s love or favor.
We see Jesus as God’s Word or revelation of God’s very self, as stated in John 1.
The holy scriptures of the bible are the source of our understanding about God and God’s relationship with humanity. We read them through the “lens” of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
Following Jesus means loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Luke 10:27 This means that we are called to address our neighbor’s immediate needs, and in so doing, we love God. These are acts of charity. It also means that we address the systems that oppress people or creation. This is the work of justice. Charity and justice are the ways in which we tangibly love both our neighbor and our God.
It is important for us to gather for worship and prayer. In worship we hear the good news of God’s love and we receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. Worship reorients our lives and strengthens us for service.
Justice or Charity?
Desmond Tutu made the following statement about the difference of justice and charity. We view our calling to share God's unconditional love through this lens:
Imagine a river flowing by a small village. Now imagine that occasionally a person who can’t swim is floating by. It would make sense to set up a lifeguard station along the banks of that river, right? This would be what we mean by “charity”. Charity is an act of love on behalf of someone in need.
Now suppose someone asked some questions. “Why are all these people floating by?” “Who is pushing them in the river?” “Why can’t they swim?” Perhaps that person would walk upstream to find out what is causing this crisis so that they could stop it. This is what we mean by “justice”. Justice asks the question, “Why?”
Why are so many struggling in poverty? Why do we see acts of violence against women, people of color, or those of various sexual orientations or gender identities? Why is there such a gap between the top 20% and bottom 20% in our socio-economic spectrum? Why is the earth experiencing a climate crisis?
The answers to these questions will be varied. We will see solutions through the lens of our cultural and political affiliations. Our congregation is made up of conservatives and liberals so we are not united in our response. However, we are united in our understanding that faith in God demands that we engage the question, “Why?”