About Us

Our Mission

We seek to respond to God's love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ to accept the guidance of the Holy Spirit to celebrate our diversity and our similarity to empower our neighborhood and to call our community to join with us as the family of God.

Welcome Statement

Approved by the Church Council on July 23, 2003, amended in April 2004

We, at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, are committed to being a radically loving and welcoming community of faith, centered in the Good News of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Gospel is God’s gift to all people to be shared unconditionally.

Calvary welcomes all people who have been excluded because of cultural or ethnic background, race, physical or mental abilities, socioeconomic or family status, gender or age. This welcome includes persons who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, their partners and families.

We are a diverse group of believers, redeemed and united into the one Body of Christ. This diversity enriches, nourishes and challenges our ministry.  Be assured, "You are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens and members of God’s household." (Ephesians 2:19)

Our Values

Adopted by the Church Council at its annual retreat on February 27, 2005

1.  We Value God’s Love and Forgiveness 
Ephesians 2:8-9
This is our starting point - God's love saves us, by grace, through faith.  We are called to embody God's forgiving love, to live this love that we receive.  As Martin Luther said, we seek to be a ‘little christ’ to and for our neighbor. This is the basis for all other values of our community.

2. We Value the Biblical Witness
James 1:22-25
Both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures bear witness to God’s on-going activity in the world, calling us to follow Jesus as pilgrim people on a journey of faithfulness.  

3.  We Value Doing Theology 
Acts 2:14-21  
We believe that theological reflection is powerful and transforming when done in response to the human condition, especially injustice and suffering.  This requires bold vision and leadership, the ability to prayerfully discern the will of God for this time and place and choosing a course of action in collaboration with those who share our values.

4.  We Value Community and Diversity 
I Corinthians 12:12-26   Ephesians 4:1-6
We believe God’s Spirit calls, gathers and bids us together in this community of faith.   This calling is not to gather a group of like-minded people, but rather to serve God’s mission in the world.  This community is open to the Spirit, "whose winds blow when and where they will" (John 3:8).  For the sake of the Gospel we value diversity in our community of faith and in our neighborhood.  We commit ourselves to the on-going process of prayerful discernment, seeking to understand and live out Christ's gift of unity in the midst of diversity.  

5.   We Value Hospitality for All, Especially the Vulnerable 
Luke 6:20-26
The Gospel is for all people.  God’s Law and Gospel are addressed to the rich, the successful and the powerful as well as to the poor and powerless.  However, the biblical stories consistently point to God’s awesome and unrelenting concern for the poor, widows, children, migrants, unemployed, sick, prisoners, aliens, victims and refugees.  We value the transforming power of being in relationship with those who had a special place in the ministry of Jesus.

6.  We Value Gathering for Worship      
Colossians 3:16
As we gather around Word, Font and Table, we experience God’s gift of unity with the entire body of Christ.  We value sanctuary, a safe place, for all to worship, where God’s gifts of hospitality,  reconciliation and hope are celebrated.  We value the flexibility within the historic liturgy and the richness of expression possible within the liturgical calendar.   Our worship equips us for our mission in the world.                           

7.  We Value Music and the Arts 
Psalm 150
Our life in community is enlivened by music and the arts, in many forms, from many parts of the world.  We value this diversity, which reminds us of the breadth of God’s creation.  We welcome expression of these gifts in worship, concerts and through our outreach to children, families and adults in our neighborhood.  

8. We Value Children 
Matthew 19:14
From our very beginnings, our community of faith has valued children, not only ‘member children,’ but also the children of our community, especially those at-risk.  For over 80 years, outreach to children has been a guiding value.  

9.  We Value our City and Neighborhood      
Isaiah 61:4
Our mission grows out of our commitment to be “In the City for Good.”  This vision calls for the transformation of 
a.  individual lives,  
b.  our community of faith and  
c.  our neighborhoods.  
In the city we see signs of God’s gift of refuge and hope.  In the Bible, over 1,000 passages about cities give us clues as to how we should live as individuals and as institutions.  The Scriptures value both places and persons.  Therefore, we seek both the spiritual transformation of persons and the social transformation of places.

10. We Value Justice and Peace-building   
Luke 4:16-21
Our outreach in the spirit and example of Christ amidst our diverse urban neighborhood is not only focused on preaching Christ’s love and forgiveness, but also on stimulating processes that lead to transformation of and liberation from oppressive and unjust laws and public structures.  God calls us to partnerships with the vulnerable, so that the power of the Gospel may be demonstrated.  We are confident of God’s power for reconciliation,  which enables us to engage in debating controversial issues in a creative and redemptive manner.