St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church is a part of the WELS Synod. If you would like more information on the WELS Synod please visit them at: www.wels.net.
WELS Mission, Objectives, Vision
GO WITH IT!
- Reach new people by planting new churches.
- Reach people of other cultures in North America by establishing new cross-cultural missions.
- Expand our world outreach by increasing our overseas mission corps.
- Involve every member in evangelizing the lost both inside and outside the church.
STUDY IT!
- Equip all of our members for personal and family devotional life.
- Focus parents' efforts on spiritual nurturing of preschoolers.
- Concentrate efforts to enroll all of our children and teens in formal programs of Christian education.
- Emphasize every communicant's need for organized Bible study.
- Emphasize every believer's need for regular public worship.
- Carry on a Scriptural study of doctrine in every congregation and conference.
- Cultivate a clear biblical understanding of worship principles.
- Cultivate a clear biblical understanding of the gospel ministry that may take on many forms.
- Publish and distribute thorough theological studies on contemporary issues challenging Christianity.
- Make effective use of up-to-date technology and methods of communication to proclaim the truth of God's Word.
- Foster confessional unity of faith among ourselves and among Christians throughout the world.
APPLY IT!
- Reflect the Scriptural injunction to give as God has prospered us.
- Assist each other to love one another and to utilize our spiritual gifts.
- Assist families in our congregations and reach out with such assistance to those in our communities.
- Respond to special needs and a changing society with Christ-centered ministry for people whose physical, emotional, or social situation may require assistance
- Involve God's people in the ministry with God's Word.
- Optimize the enthusiasm of emerging adults (18 and up) for ministry.
- Make the most of the wisdom of maturing generations (55 and up) in the ministry of the Word.
TEACH IT!
- Continue recruitment from elementary, high school, and non- traditional sources with recruitment and scholarship emphasis in every congregation.
- Implement and enhance recruiting, training, certifying, and calling of staff workers other than pastors and teachers.
- Encourage use of a comprehensive program for professional growth in ministry for all called workers.
- Develop and implement ways and means to train workers for cross-cultural ministry.
- Develop and implement comprehensive support programs for the called workers Christ gives to the church.
- Provide ministry-related field experiences for the faculties of our ministerial education schools.
- Involve the majority of our ministerial education students in appropriate ministry-related field experiences while in school.
About WELS
WELS, characterized as theologically conservative, is the third largest Lutheran church body in America. With national offices today at 2929 N. Mayfair Rd., Milwaukee, Wis., WELS began in 1850 when three German pastors met in Milwaukee. Today, it has grown to over 1,200 congregations in North America. It has over 400,000 baptized members, which includes over 300,000 communicants, served by over 1,000 pastors. The synod operates four ministerial education schools: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wis.; Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minn.; Luther Preparatory School, Watertown, Wis.; and Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, Mich.
Nearly 500 years ago, the Christian church was corrupted by many false teachings. A man named Martin Luther led people back to the teachings of the Bible. His work, and that of his friends, is called the Reformation. Through Luther God restored the church to purity of doctrine and a new life of faith in Christ.
The doctrines of the Lutheran Church are not new. They are the teachings of the Bible. Thus the Lutheran Church is not a new church. It is not a sect or cult.
It is a church whose teaching is based on the words written by the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament. The Bible tells us about Jesus Christ.
The teachings of the Lutheran Church are those of the original, ancient church of the apostles and early Christians.
What WELS Believes
A Statement of Belief of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Click here to download PDF version.
Excerpt from the Introduction:
“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). With these words Jesus indicates that he wants Christians to confess publicly what they believe in their hearts.
This We Believe is one way the members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod have chosen to confess their faith in Christ. This document publicly summarizes the main teachings of our church body.
WELS Online Resources
- WELS Question and Answer
- Devotions
- Bible Reading Plans
- Parents Crosslink (A page about parenting)
- Living Bold (A site for teens)
Other Links
- St. Croix Lutheran High School
- Martin Luther College
- The Lutheran Home
- Camp Croix
- Wisconsin Lutheran Child & Family Services
- Lutheran Institutional Ministry Association, Inc.
- WELS Kingdom Workers
- Christian Life Ministries
Wise Penny East
207 Bush St.
Red Wing, MN
651-385-0565
Hours: Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
St. John's Lutheran Church, 202 W. 8th St., Hastings, MN 55033, 651-438-3730
