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About
Us
About
Us
The name Immanuel means "God is with us". This web site
is meant to give a glimpse into the life of the community of faith
at Immanuel and how God is present with us and through us.
Immanuel has been serving the Woodburn area for 97 years and supporting
other local ministries such as the AWARE Foodbank, the Woodburn
Resource Center and the Mid-Willamette Valley Women's Crisis Center.
Immanuel is in partnership with 10,956 congregations, 28 Lutheran
colleges and universities, 8 seminaries, 350 world-wide missionaries,
one of the largest non-profit social service networks in the U.S.
and Lutheran World Relief, all ministries of the 4.9 million member
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Our
Purpose
To thankfully love God, grow in Christ, serve others and
share the grace of God in a diverse world.
Our
Values
As people of God, led by the Holy Spirit on a life journey, we seek
to:
- Respect, honor and accept people where they are.
- Proclaim the Biblical message that through
faith in Jesus Christ we have been saved by God's grace, the gift
of unmerited love for all people.
- Compassionately respond
to the needs of our community and the world.
Our
Beliefs
- We believe in the triune God: God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge one God in these three persons.
- We believe that God the Father created the universe. God is loving,
compassionate, just, and kind. God's deepest desire is to live in
an life-giving relationship with all people.
- We believe that, because of the desire to live in a relationship
with us, God became a human being. Jesus Christ, born of a virgin,
is fully God and fully human. Through his death and resurrection,
Jesus made it possible for all people to live in a relationship
with God. We believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and
the life. Through him people enter into a relationship with God
and can be granted salvation.
- We believe that the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus Christ
among us. Through the Spirit, God loves us, empowers us, and lives
in us. The Spirit gives gifts to all believers. We believe in all
the gifts of the Spirit and encourage their use.
- We believe that the Bible is the Word of God. Through the Bible,
God is revealed to us. The entire Bible is God-breathed and God-inspired.
The Old and New Testaments are the guides upon which we base our
faith.
- We believe that the church, be it a local congregation or the
worldwide fellowship of believers, is the body of Christ. As Christ's
body, we are called to worship him, serve him, and be the vehicle
through which the good news in its fullness is shared with the world.
- We affirm and identify with the confessions of the Lutheran church.
We affirm the centrality of grace alone, faith alone, and Word alone.
- We believe in and practice the sacraments of Holy Baptism and
Holy Communion. We believe that through the waters of Baptism, God
comes to us to adopt us as his children. Through Baptism, God gives
the gift of new life. We affirm the baptism of infants.
- We believe that through the Lord's Supper, God comes to love us
and forgive us. It is a meal of renewal. Jesus is really present
in the meal.
- We believe in the worth and value of the human being. Created
in God's image, humans have dignity. Their worth is dependent not
on accomplishments, but instead on God's love. Because God sees
humanity as worth dying for, we affirm and acknowledge the dignity
of humans.
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At the same time, we acknowledge that humanity is separated from
God because of sin. We joyfully proclaim the good news that because
of Jesus Christ, forgiveness is a possibility. It is that forgiveness
that restores fallen humanity’s worth and reconcile our lives
to God.
- We believe in and anticipate
the return of Jesus Christ. Although we don’t know the day
or hour, we joyfully proclaim his return to inspire all people to
make the most of life today. |
