We don’t expect that every person who worships with King of Kings holds the same beliefs in every matter of faith. We celebrate the fact that we have a diversity of experiences, opinions, and questions about God! However, the answers to these frequently asked questions will talk about the guiding principles of the preaching and teaching which you will find here.
Q: What is a Lutheran?
A: A Lutheran is a Christian who identifies with the tradition of Lutheranism, named after Martin Luther. Luther was a German monk and reformer from the 1500s. He taught that salvation is a gift God freely gives to us, not something that can be bought or earned. He was eventually excommunicated by Rome, and Lutheranism became one of many new branches of Christianity that arose during the Protestant Reformation.
Q: What kind of “evangelicals” are you?
A: King of Kings is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ELCA for short. “Evangelical” comes from a Greek word that means “good news.” Our tradition has called itself evangelical since the 16th century because we try to focus on the good news that humanity is so loved by God that absolutely nothing in all of creation could separate us from that love, because of the faith of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:38-39).
This adjective is not meant to affiliate us with any particular North American political or social movements of the last century. For more information, please read this article from Living Lutheran Magazine.
Q: What do you believe about the Bible?
A: “This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.” (That comes from our constitution.) We do not describe Scripture as inerrant, and we embrace using various critical methods to explore how God has been and is being revealed in our lives and in our world through the witness of our ancestors in faith. For more information, please read this page from the ELCA’s website.
Q: What do you believe about Baptism and the Lord’s Supper?
A: In Holy Baptism the Triune God delivers us from the forces of evil, puts our sinful self to death, gives us new birth, adopts us as children, and makes us members of the body of Christ, the Church. At the table of our Lord Jesus Christ, God nourishes faith, forgives sin, and calls us to be witnesses to the Gospel. We baptize all ages. We believe that Christ is truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Although baptism may be (and should be) affirmed repeatedly, a person is only baptized once. For more information, please read The Use of the Means of Grace.
Q: What does your church believe about [insert social issue here]?
A: Our denomination occasionally publishes Social Statements meant to “provide broad frameworks to assist us in thinking about and discussing social issues in the context of faith and life.” The process of developing these Statements takes years and involves thousands of people. There is no expectation that every church member agree with the totality of every statement. Rather, “[t]hey are meant to help communities and individuals with moral formation, discernment and thoughtful engagement with current social issues as we participate in God’s work in the world.”
To read the ELCA Social Statements about topics such as criminal justice, human sexuality, caring for creation, and more, please visit this page from the ELCA’s website.
