What are Lutherans?

Lutherans are followers of Jesus Christ. We join the billions of Christians around the world of the last two millennia who confess Jesus Christ is Lord and believe the eyewitness testimony that He rose bodily from the dead. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He commissioned His apostles to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name (Luke 24:47). We join this long tradition of making disciples of Jesus Christ while looking for His imminent return to this earth when He will judge the living and the dead.

As Lutheran Christians, we have a special affinity to Martin Luther, the 16th-century German reformer. His Small Catechism (first published in 1529), which simply explains the most important teachings of the Bible, forms the basis of instruction for both our adults and our children. Lutherans are catholic in that we stand in continuity with the faith Christians have universally practiced for many centuries. We confess the three ecumenical creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian), celebrate the historic liturgy, and regard the sacraments as necessary and life-giving. We are evangelical in that we proclaim salvation by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone in order to live for Him alone (Ephesians 2:8-10).

We belong to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), a collection of congregations established in 1847 by German immigrants to the United States. More information on the LCMS can be found at lcms.org.