EVANGELICAL CATHOLIC LUTHERANS
Who are we?
Imagine a church that is both evangelical-proclaiming the free forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ-and sacramental, centering its spiritual life in the regenerating waters of Baptism and the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion.
Imagine further a church that is strongly grounded on Scripture, but yet avoids the solipsism of individual interpretation in favor of a comprehensive, intellectually rigorous and imminently orthodox theological system. Imagine a worship service that features both strong preaching and the historic liturgy. Imagine that this is a historical church with a rich spiritual tradition, but without legalism. Imagine, in short, a church that has some of the best parts of Protestantism and the best parts of Catholicism.
Finally, imagine that this church body is not some little made-up sect, but one of the largest bodies of Christians in the world.Such a church might seem like what many Christians, disaffected by both the vacuity of liberal theology and the shallowness of American evangelicalism-are dreaming of.
Such a church exists. It goes by the admittedly inadequate name “Lutheran.”Worldwide, there are some 60,000,000 Lutherans on the books, making it the largest Protestant tradition of them all.
-Gene Edward Veith
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WHAT IS AN EVANGELICAL CATHOLIC LUTHERAN?
As “Evangelical Catholic Lutherans” we recognize that the “Christian Faith” was not founded at the time of the Reformation. We also recognize that Martin Luther never sought out to “start” another Church, rather his aim was to reform the one he was in.
Martin Luther himself never claimed infallibility as he knew he would simply become that which he was attempting to reform. Things got out of hand during that time across Christendom, and sadly we are left to deal with a fragmented and crippled body.
We realize that unity does not necessarily mean uniformity, and to compromise “Truth” in the name of “unity” is neither right nor safe. We also recognize that diversity is Godly, but division is diabolical which is why we lean into the past in order to propel and guide us into the future, and leave plenty of room to discuss and express our faith while holding fast to the Traditions passed onto us.
We at the ECL draw from the rich teachings of the church fathers, saints that span the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Traditions, while keeping in mind that nothing can be imposed on the faithful that is not found evident in scripture. We confess the Apostle and Nicene Creeds as a display of our unity, and we hold to the sacraments as being the means of Grace gifted to Christ’s Church.
In these current trying times we believe that it is time for a new counter-reformation, one that brings christians who adhere to the timeless creeds closer together, where we demolish the walls erected to keep each other out, and recognize that together we can proclaim the message of the reconciliation to the world of the cosmos to Christ together.
Our prayer is for everyone in the world begin to feel their “hearts burn within them”. Jesus was lifted up and is drawing all to himself, and we pray that those brought to our doorstep will experience in a transformative way the Love, Mercy, and Peace that only comes through Christ.
Our prayer is to be a bridge church, not simply another denomination. We at ECL are open to expression, yet rooted firmly in the timeless proclamation of the Universal Christian Faith as handed down to us.
By confessing the Nicene Creed, we recognize and include ourselves via administration of the sacraments and preaching of the Holy Scriptures in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. In this way, we treasure our catholicity. We also view ourselves as evangelical, recognizing the distinction between law and Gospel.
