Mt. Olive Lutheran Church

We are people. Different people.
		Young, old. Single, married, divorced, widowed. Poor, working-class, middle-class, well off. We are preschoolers, elementary schoolers, middle schoolers, high school graduates, college graduates, Ph.D.’s, GED’s. Straight, gay. Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, Norwegian, German and more. We are people like you.

We are honest people. We know we are human. We make mistakes.
		Sometimes small mistakes. Sometimes big ones. We know we are going to die. We know we need the love and mercy of a gracious God. We know we need one another to bear one another’s burdens and help one another through the struggles of life.

We are a believing people.
		We believe in one God--who made us, loves us, and is gracious to us. We believe in God’s promises of forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that God continues to bless and guide and strengthen us through the Holy Spirit.

We are a loving people.
		We believe that God calls us to make God’s love visible, audible and tangible in the world by showing love and care and compassion for others.

We are a serving people.
		We strive to live not according to self-interest but in service to others as Jesus Christ taught. We serve the vulnerable in our neighborhood and around the world: the hungry, the homeless, people in recovery, those who are lonely, the sick, the elderly, children.

We are a joyful people.
		We gather on Sunday to worship and thank our gracious God. We sing, we play lots of music, different kinds of music. We rejoice. We have fun. A lot of fun. Worshiping, serving, living faithfully.

We are a thoughtful people.
		We study the Bible. We study Christian writings and traditions. We discuss how we can faithfully live out God’s values of peace and justice and compassion and restoration in our lives.

We are a hopeful people.
		We believe that God can transform people. And that with the help of God’s Spirit, people can transform injustice into just society, conflict into peace, division into reconciliation, and potential death into life.

We are people. God’s people.

We are a church. A church for the whole community. Come and join us.

Mt. Olive is a church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. For information about the Lutheran tradition see the ELCA website www.elca.org and Pastor Stephanie’s recent column on “Being Lutheran.”