We believe in one God who has revealed Himself to us in three Divine Persons—God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Gen. 1:26-27; Num. 6:24-26; Deut. 6:4; Ps. 2:7; Is. 48:16; Matt. 3:16-17, 28:19

We believe that this Triune God has caused His Word to be recorded in the Old and New Testaments by inspiration of the Holy Spirit; therefore, the Bible has no mistakes or errors of any kind (inerrant) and can be trusted absolutely (infallible).
John 5:39, 10:35; Rom. 3:2; 1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21

We believe that by His almighty Word God created a perfect world in six days. 
Gen. 1-2; Exodus 20:8-11; Ps. 33:6; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 11:3

We believe that this perfect world was ruined by Adam and Eve's rebellion against their Creator. Their sin has corrupted all humanity so that all people are now conceived and born dead in sin and are under God's wrath.
Gen. 3; Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:23; 5:12-19, 6:23, 7:18, 8:7-8; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1-3

We believe that out of pure, undeserved love God sent His eternal Son into our sinful world to take on our flesh and to satisfy God's anger against our sins by His perfect life and His innocent suffering and death on the cross.
Matt. 17:5; John 1:1, 3:16-18, 8:58; Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 1:7, 5:20

We believe that this same Son of God, Jesus Christ, not only died for the sins of humanity but that He rose bodily from the dead after three days.
Matt. 28; Mark. 16; Luke. 24; John. 20; Rom. 1:4, 4:25, 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:14-18

We believe that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight. 
Romans 3:21-26; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:19-20; Eph. 2:8-9

We believe that for Jesus' sake God has graciously pardoned the sins of the entire world and it is this good news or “Gospel” which Jesus wants His Church to proclaim to all people.
Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47; Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20

We believe that God distributes His forgiveness and is present today among His people through the "means of grace" (the Word and Sacraments). 
John 5:39; 1 Cor. 1:21, 15:1-2; Eph. 1:7-9; Col. 1:28; 2 Tim. 3:15-17

We believe that God's Church is found wherever these means of grace are found (the pure preaching of the Word and the right administration of the Sacraments).
Is. 55:10-11; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:42

We believe that Baptism is a "means of grace;" through which God, by water and His mighty Word, calls people (including infants and little children) into His Kingdom, giving them the new birth of faith, and forgiving them all their sins.
Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:16; John 3:3-6; Rom. 6:3-4; Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5

We believe that the Lord's Supper is a "means of grace;" in which our risen Savior gives all communicants His true body to eat and His true blood to drink hidden in, with, and under the outward forms of bread and wine for the forgiveness of all their sins.
Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 10:16, 11:23-29

We believe that the Holy Spirit no longer speaks directly to people as He did to the prophets and apostles in the Bible but works in us today through the Ministry of Word and Sacrament alone.
Matt. 7:21-23, 24:24; Eph. 4:11

We believe that, through congregations such as ours, God calls qualified men into the public “Ministry of Word and Sacrament” to represent Him, to speak His Word in His place, and to administer the Sacraments according to His institution.
Matt 28:19-20; Acts 20:28; Rom. 10:15; 2 Cor. 5:18, Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; 2 Tim. 4:3-5

We believe that our risen Savior, Jesus, will return visibly to this world on the Last Day, as He has promised, to assign all unbelievers to eternal punishment in hell but to give all believers eternal life with Him in the Resurrection unto life everlasting.
Matt. 25:31-46; Luke 21:27, 36; 1 Thess. 4:14, 17

We believe that all the teachings of the Lutheran Church, as we have learned to know them from Luther's Small Catechism and as they are more thoroughly explained in the other Lutheran Confessions, are true and correct statements of the teachings of the Bible and reflect our own personal faith today.
Matt. 10:32; John 8:31-32; 1 Tim. 4:11; 6:3-4; Titus 2:1

We believe that harmony and uniformity among God’s people should be encouraged as St. Paul teaches Romans 15:5 so that we might all “with one heart and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 15:6; hence we use historic liturgies and Lutheran hymnody in all Divine Services.  Diversity and innovation in worship should be weighed thoughtfully, in an orderly and appropriate way, without giving offense, to the benefit of the Church’s overall Christian discipline and instruction in the Faith.
Rom. 15:5-6; 1 Cor. 8:9-12, 14:26-40

   This congregation, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (St. John’s), operates according to its own constitution and bylaws and therein establishes an orderly way of making decisions and determines which individuals or entities in the congregation (e.g., the Congregational Assembly and its officers, the Council of Deacons, the pastor(s), other staff, or the various boards) will have authority to act on behalf of the congregation in specific circumstances.

    In general, planning and implementation of the congregation’s mission is delegated by the Congregational Assembly to the Council of Deacons in accordance with and subject to the requirements of our constitution and bylaws.

    All controversies arising in this congregation are decided and settled in accordance with the Confessional Standard stated in Article II of our constitution. The constitution and bylaws of St. John’s along with various adopted policies, governing this congregation are available on this website.

    St. John’s, as its primary mission, operates a day school. The overall operation of the school is under the authority of the congregation through its Congregational Assembly, elected officers, Council of Deacons, and the various boards.  Authority over the day-to-day operation of the school is delegated by the congregation through the Council of Deacons to the school administrator, along with faculty and staff.

    St. John’s is a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS or Synod).  As a member of the LCMS, St. John’s agrees to act in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod and to respect, honor, and uphold decisions (resolutions) made by the Synod in its national conventions regarding the understanding of the teachings of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions and practices that are consistent with such teaching.

Policy on Marriage

We believe that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive, lifelong union as described in Scripture (Gen. 2: 18-25; Matt. 19: 4-6). Marriage, as created and instituted by God, serves a sacred purpose as a picture of the marriage between Christ and His bride the Church (Eph. 5:32). It has been and remains the policy of this congregation that our pastors will not officiate over any marriages inconsistent with those beliefs, and our church property may not be used for any marriage ceremony, reception or other activity that would be inconsistent with our beliefs and this policy.

We also recognize and support our pastors’ right of refusal to perform a wedding ceremony that goes against his conscience or conflicts with our congregation’s other stated beliefs. In such circumstances, we also do not permit the use of our facilities.