At Spirit of Joy! Lutheran Church, our members come from a wide variety of church backgrounds – and no church background at all. A member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), we are a community of faith that is passionate about the power of God’s Grace.
What is a Lutheran?
With a broad swatch of the Christian Church, we hold the historic Creeds (the Apostles and Nicene Creeds). We believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God, that God exists in the community known as the Holy Trinity, and that we are salvation comes through the mercy and compassion of God.
Our Core Values
In addition to the things that make us broadly Christian and specifically Lutheran, we hold to these core values as a congregation:
We value inclusive welcome. We draw people in, embracing the diversity that God has created in the world. We seek to create a space that is welcoming to those who often feel overlooked and forgotten by the church. We pay special attention to how we can create space in our building, worship, and community for individuals of differing mobility and medical needs, ethnic and racial backgrounds, and sexual identities.
We live generously in all things. “Generous” is not just a description of budgets and finances, but a way of living. We are generous of spirit, seeking kindness and patience. Generous in our welcome. Generous with the material blessings God has entrusted to us.
We are faithfully growing. Disciples never stop growing, and we always seek to grow in relationship with God and our neighbors. From childhood to middle age to the last third of life, all of us have ways to grow deeper in faith and spiritual maturity. Together, we are committed to prayer, learning, and all the ways that our faith grows.
We are Lutheran. We embrace the best of our Lutheran tradition – that God’s grace is for all and that God is relentless in loving us.
Core Practices
Our Core Values are lived out through 4 key practices that help us to be the community that God has called us to be.
Worship. We are created for worship. Sometimes this looks like our weekly Sunday morning gathering. But it also looks like prayer in our homes, taking time for praise and thanksgiving when we gather for other events. Worship is woven through all we do.
Read. Because we are always growing, we know that we have to return to the well to be renewed regularly. Regularly reading the Bible and other devotional materials help us to remain deeply rooted in the faith that has fed generations.
Connect. When God made humankind, God reminded us that it is not good for us to be alone. We are created for community – for connection, interdependence, and fellowship. We need one another, and seek to build strong connections within our church and with our neighbors.
Serve. Service is the thing that moves us outside of our own concerns and desires, and re-focuses us on our neighbors. Service – both in big ways and in quiet everyday ways – is how we are reminded of what love looks like in the world.