Welcoming Statement

Welcoming in God’s Grace calls us to see God in all people and to open our hearts to them. As a reflection of God’s gracious love, First Lutheran Church welcomes ALL of God’s people with no exceptions! Our faith community invites and welcomes you—regardless of race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender/identity, disability, or economic status—for worship, fellowship, and partnership in ministry.

What We Believe at First Lutheran

• That Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.
• That His death on the cross defeated the powers of sin, death and evil.
• That His Resurrection gives us new life.
• Our relationship with God begins in the waters of baptism where God chooses us, joins us to Jesus Christ and gifts us with the Holy Spirit.
• We receive the promise of eternal life in those waters.
• We also are made members of Christ’s body, the church, in our baptism.
• God’s forgiveness is also visible in Christ’s body and blood (bread and wine) in Holy Communion.
• This second sacrament is nourishment for our faith journeys.
• The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus died for us.
• Therefore, our core teaching is that we are justified (saved) by faith through grace for service.
• Grace is God’s unmerited and unqualified love for us.
• Faith is always a response to grace and comes to us as a gift of the Holy Spirit.
• Service is how we live out that faith in love.
• We accept the Holy Scriptures as the true source of Christian love, guidance and doctrine.
• We preach Christ crucified and risen.
• We believe God continues to reveal His will for us through prayer and the study of His word.

First Lutheran is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), aligned to the Delaware-Maryland Synod.