What We Believe

At Pilgrim Lutheran Church, our members come from a wide variety of church backgrounds – and no church background at all. Some of our members can trace their families back to the charter members of the congregation in 1888. Others are young professionals, retired transplants to the area, and those looking for a place of welcome with no strings attached. We have an awesome crew of UWS college students during the school year, and strive to be open, welcoming, and affirming to anyone looking for a place to belong.

As ELCA Lutherans, our unique flavor of Christianity holds much in common with other denominations. We confess the historic Creeds (the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds) of the church. We believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God, that God exists in and as the Holy Trinity. We recognize that our salvation comes through the mercy and compassion of God.

As 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 and living out the promises of Jesus in all that we do.

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. We remember that the church reformed must always be reforming - so we hold to traditions that ground us, while boldly following the new paths the Spirit is guiding us on.

What do we do?

Worship. We are created for worship. Sometimes this looks like our weekly Sunday morning gatherings - 9:30 every week! But we are a community who also gathers online, in our homes, and as God's scattered seeds of love in the world. Worship is woven through all we do.

Study. Because we are always growing, we know that we have to return to the well to be renewed regularly. We regularly read and study the Bible and other devotional materials, together and individually, to 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.