Yes - all are not just welcome but honored and essential here! Alongside our identity as a Reconciling in Christ congregation (click here to learn more about that), Christ Lutheran Church has long been a community of people who are passionate about racial equity (see our various ministries above). We lift up women and queer individuals in all aspects of church life and ministry.

And also, we realize that we are imperfect in this all-important striving for equity and unity. As complex humans, we miss the mark a lot and constantly need grace, forgiveness, and the Work of the Holy Spirit to continually see our flaws (aka ‘Sin’) and make us whole again. It is a joyful work in progress, like life itself. We are constantly learning. We trust in God, who works with the messes we so often create and who is much bigger than our failure to love. And we lean on each other for support, honesty, mercy, and love.

We don’t categorize people by LGBTQIA+, race, class or any other measure. People here delight most in being known as “child of God.”

Every Sunday; also at most weddings and funerals.

Yes! All are welcome at Christ’s table. Christ Lutheran’s radical welcome is also an invitation to baptism and a deeper connection to community. If you are not baptized, we encourage you to reach out and chat more with us about the process of baptism. Let’s make this thing official!

Lutherans have been called the original Protestants, people who left the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s and hope for reconciliation one day. In recent years, Lutherans and Catholics have increasingly found agreement on issues that once divided us. For example, members of both bodies recognize each other’s baptism and believe God saves us by God’s grace, without our earning salvation.

Our denomination is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA is in Full Communion (meaning we get along well and share the same core beliefs) with the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ, the Moravian Church, and the Reformed Church in America.

To say that everyone who attends believes the same things would be far from reality. Our focus is less on what people believe and more on what they hear every Sunday. And in the Lutheran church, what you‘ll hear is a bold confession of God’s grace for all (!). This Good News is at the heart of what we mean when we say “Lutheran.”

Even though Martin Luther (the monk from the 1500s who serves as our namesake) would likely be horrified to hear that we named our denomination after him, we went and did it anyway. It doesn’t mean that we worship Martin Luther. It means that we hold the Christian faith and tradition in a way that is deeply inspired by the heart of Martin Luther. Yes, he was a flawed human like all of us. But at the center of his life’s work lives a God who is deeply in love with the world and everyone in it.

Yes, it’s confusing. Our denomination is called the ‘Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.’ But when we use the word ‘evangelical,’ we aren’t talking about American Evangelicalism. We can’t speak for that branch (many of whom fall under the Baptist and Pentecostal denominations), but we will say that we are distinct from that more modern form of Christianity.

When we use the word ‘evangelical’, we allude to the word ‘euangeleon,’ which is Greek for ‘good news’ or ‘Gospel.’ We are (or at least strive to be) a Gospel-centered denomination. The way that Martin Luther put it, we are loved by God not because of the things we do (or don’t do) but because we have a loving God. We don’t earn God’s love, and we cannot lose God’s love. We can, however, ignore it and deny it’s true for people we don’t like (aka ‘Sin’ or ‘separation'). But this is not living in alignment with the Gospel. As humans, we all fall into this, which is why we hold mass each Sunday to bring us back into alignment with the love that lies at the core of life itself and is revealed in Jesus Christ.

We practice what’s called “generous orthodoxy” and follow the ancient liturgy of the church (readings from scripture, a sermon, prayers of the people, Holy Eucharist, benediction, etc.). Our pastor wears an alb (robe), we do a lot of standing, sitting, bowing, and have plenty of space for contemplative silence throughout the service. We sing old hymns and confess the historic Creeds of the Church. The movement of our Sunday liturgy is an embodied and sensorial way of being rooted in the sacraments of Holy Eucharist (bread and wine), Baptism, and the Confession and absolution of our sins. So you’ll experience a lot of ancient tradition here, but it is intentional. We’ve found that there’s something about other-worldliness that is refreshing and restorative to the human soul. Though we are a little “high church,” we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Our sermons and prayers relate directly to life in our modern world.

Martin Luther and the early Reformers didn’t reject any of these practices. We embrace worshiping with all of our human senses. It’s not the only way to worship God; it’s just the way that suits us best.

A little over an hour.

If you were to take a poll, you might find that our church is composed of more liberals than conservatives, but we try to respect differences on divisive social and economic issues. We believe the Holy Spirit leads us to care not just for our own personal needs but also for the needs of our neighbors near and far.

Women are ordained as pastors in our denomination. Many of our parish leaders are women.

We do not have a staffed nursery but welcome children to worship with the whole congregation. We often have a ‘children’s chat’ right before the main sermon where the pastor has a casual conversation with any kids who’d like to come forward. We also find it important to give kids the responsibility of doing the ‘holy things’ of the church. Kids are invited to serve as acolytes, readers, communion assistants, etc..

On a typical Sunday, we have 40-50 people in attendance. We don’t livestream our services, but our pastor records the sermons and posts them on our YouTube Channel. There are married couples, a few young families, Baby Boomers, and a good number of people in their 80s and 90s (we even have a treasured few who are triple-digits!). A lot of us identify as Lutherans, but we have some post-Evangelicals, ex-Catholics (including the pastor), Methodists, agnostics, Reformed, Episcopalian, and the ever-popular “non-affiliated.” Whoever you are, you’ll find at least a couple of others in the same boat as you are.

Yes, please do. We post our wekly sermons on our YouTube channel here.