Under God, and subject to biblical authority, we bear
concerted witness to the following articles, to which we subscribe, and
which we hold to be essential to our ministry.
I. God has revealed himself to be the living and
true God, perfect in love and righteous in all his ways; one in
essence, existing eternally in the three persons of the Trinity:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
II. God, who discloses himself through his
creation, has savingly spoken in the words and events of redemptive
history. This history is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word,
who is made known to us by the Holy Spirit in sacred Scripture.
III. Scripture is an essential part and
trustworthy record of this divine self-disclosure. All the books of the
Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, are the written
word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. They are
to be interpreted according to their context and purpose and in
reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through them in living power.
IV. God, by his word and for his glory, freely
created the world from nothing. He made man and woman in his own image,
as the crown of creation, that they might have fellowship with him.
Tempted by Satan, they rebelled against God. Being estranged from their
Maker, yet responsible to him, they became subject to divine wrath,
inwardly depraved, and, apart from grace, incapable of returning to God.
V. The only Mediator between God and humankind is
Christ Jesus our Lord, God's eternal Son, who being conceived by the
Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, fully fulfilled our humanity
in a life of perfect obedience. By his death in our stead, he revealed
the divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and
reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, the third day he
rose bodily from the grave, victorious over death and the powers of
darkness. He ascended into heaven where at God's right hand, he
intercedes for his people and rules as Lord over all.
VI. The Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of
the gospel, renews our hearts, persuading us to repent of our sins and
confess Jesus as Lord. By the same Spirit we are led to trust in divine
mercy, whereby we are forgiven all our sins, justified by faith alone
through the merit of Christ our Savior and granted the free gift of
eternal life.
VII. God graciously adopts us into his family and
enables us to call him Father. As we are led by the Spirit, we grow in
the knowledge of the Lord, freely keeping his commandments and
endeavoring so to live in the world that all may see our good works and
glorify our Father who is in heaven.
VIII. God by his word and Spirit creates the one
holy, catholic and apostolic church, calling sinners out of the whole
human race into the fellowship of Christ's body. By the same word and
Spirit, he guides and preserves for eternity that new, redeemed
humanity, which, being formed in every culture, is spiritually one with
the people of God in all ages.
IX. The church is summoned by Christ to offer
acceptable worship to God and to serve him by preaching the gospel and
making disciples of all nations, by tending the flock through the
ministry of the word and sacraments and through daily pastoral care, by
striving for social justice, and by relieving human distress and need.
X. God's redemptive purpose will be consummated
by the return of Christ to raise the dead, to judge all people
according to the deeds done in the body and to establish his glorious
kingdom. The wicked shall be separated from God's presence, but the
righteous in glorious bodies, shall live and reign with him forever.
Then shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled and the whole
earth shall proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.
