First Lutheran Church of West Seattle

Above all, our mission or purpose for existence is to worship, confess, witness to, and serve the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, proclaimed in Holy Scripture, according to the Lutheran Confessions (1529-1580).

Included in this primary mission are the following emphases.

In our worship we:

• Honor the historical liturgies, upholding the apostolic faith and practice, and seasons of the liturgical year.
• Honor the sacrament of Christ’s Holy Supper, celebrating it at every Sunday liturgy and other church appointed days throughout the year, with bread and wine, extending it to all who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, including infants and members of other Christian denominations.
• Honor the music of the great hymnody of the Church, seeing in it a richness that properly matches the grandeur of the apostolic faith.

In our congregation we:

• Honor the authority of the Holy Office of parish pastor and support its primary work of promoting, protecting, and proclaiming God’s Law and Gospel in its written, spoken, and visible forms.
• Honor the rigorous study of the details and complexities of Holy Scripture under the instruction of the parish pastor.
• Honor entering into discussions over the great societal issues of our day without avoiding controversy, so that we may better understand our world and the minds of our membership on these matters.
• Honor the beauty and majesty of our church building as God’s holy house wherein we do far more than meet together, but primarily behold the awesome splendor of God’s presence.
• Believe that church membership is not easy, but a high calling to live a life of sacrifice in our witness to Christ’s Cross, by giving of our money to the church, by giving of our time to further the work of the church, and by being ever ready to witness anywhere to God’s truth, justice and righteous purity.
• Believe that the best way to raise our young in the church is through sustained home instruction and example, supplemented with Church School and confirmation, active participation in worship including the choir programs and acolyte guild, and by joining in the various service projects of our church.
• Acknowledge our membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

In our community we:

• Serve by funding and participating in programs for the poor, powerless and voiceless, and by defending them against injustice and abuse.

In conclusion we:

• Affirm that through Holy Baptism and spiritual regeneration we bear one another’s burdens, so that we can provide help in times of trouble, advance maturity in Christ, and promote independence among us.

Approved by the Church Council May 13, 1989
Adopted by the Congregation, July 30, 1989
Reaffirmed by the Congregation, January 26, 1992 & January 28, 1996
Revised and Approved by the Church Council June 11, 2019
Adopted by the Congregation, July 21, 2019