Who are Lutherans?
Lutherans are Christians who focus on Jesus. Because we see Jesus as the "window" to God, we try not to make claims about God that we cannot know for sure. Instead we look at the life, activities, parables, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus as ways of understanding what God is like. Martin Luther forged out this central point in the 16th century during a time the church was undergoing renewal. Not everything he said or did was consistent, but his passion for focusing on Jesus and his careful reading of Scripture continues to guide Lutherans today.

Since Jesus is so central, everything else pales by comparison. That means there is a lot of room for variation in beliefs in the Lutheran church.
You can believe in evolution or in a literal six day creation if you want. You can vote Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter. You can be Pro - life or Pro - choice. You can be straight or gay. You may believe that Adam and Eve were real people, or symbolic people used to tell the great story of the "Who" of creation. You may struggle with doctrine and dogma and you would be welcomed here and not judged. You may believe Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (an old understanding) or you may believe that several unknown authors, with different biases wrote those books.
But the main point of the Bible for Lutherans is to point to Jesus.
In baptism, each one of us became a brother or sister to the rest in spite of different ideas we may hold.
At the Communion Table, our differences pale into nothingness as we partake of the holy mystery of Christ's presence that forgives guides and empowers us for mission in the world.

In the Lutheran church, no one is left behind.

What do you mean when you say First Lutheran is Progressive?
We mean that we are not afraid of truth in all forms. Science and art and the humanities are not feared here.  Scripture is studied in its context which means not everything is interpreted literally. We recognize the great advances of Biblical Scholarship, note the multiple authorship of many of the Old Testament books, and can see norms written into the Bible which reflect a certain period of history. We don't feel the need to protect our children from the advances of science as though Christianity was a weakling being buffeted by the big bully of science. Lay leaders are both men and women, young and old. We have had a history of interns, both male and female. We don't tell people how to vote or pass out voters guides. We don't feel the need to think alike, but hold to great emphasis on Jesus and one's own conscience in matters of ethics. We speak of God's decision for us, rather than our decision for Jesus. And we prefer to speak of the faith as a journey that lasts a lifetime.

What do Lutherans believe about Scripture?
The Lutheran church of which we are a part holds Scripture as inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by human authors. It holds the life-giving message of God's love plus folklore, historical narratives, legends, even some pretty gory stories. We take it seriously enough to really read it in its context, and hold all of its content up to Jesus Christ and his love.  Lutherans read the Bible first and foremost to find Jesus and the Gospel there.

Why are there so many disagreements about certain passages in the Bible?
The short answer is because there are so many people!  The question goes back to differences over what the Bible is, how much authority it should have in our lives, and what it means, exactly, to say that the Bible is "true."

Some people believe the Bible to be the literal word of God..... that those human beings who wrote down the words were basically taking dictation from God.  In this view, if the Bible says there were 500 men in battle then there were 500 men in battle..not about 500, not 502, and not 450 men and 50 women.  In this view, if a story says that God commanded Israel to kill some Canaanites, and spare no one, not even innocent women and children, then God must have commanded it.  It was not the author's opinion. Most people who hold this view also believe that what is said in the Bible is true for all time, rather than something that might have been true for a particular audience.  It is also must be true in all ways.  It must be historoically true, scientifically true, socially true, as well as religiously true.

Others see the Bible as the inspired, written word of God.  This includes Lutherans!

These people think that the Holy Spirit had a hand in what was written, but that the human authors also put in their parts.  In this view it is possible that what was written for, say, the Jews of first century Jerusalem may or may not still be true for 21st Century Americans.  It is also possible that human error and bias crept into the writing here and there, so all the tools of scholarship are brought to bear on the texts to help interpret their meaning.  Mistakes of the culture...like thinking the earth was flat or condoning slavery... are named as errors in Scripture by this group, while the first group would have to explain those things another way.

I really love going to Holy Communion, it makes me feel closer to Jesus, but I still wonder about it, especially the words "body and blood of Christ" that are spoken as we take it.  I know it isn't literal, but what is it then?
One of the central characteristics of faith is mystery.  We, with our human minds, simply cannot fully comprehend the "mysteries" of God.  If God were such that He could be encapsulated in a book or formula or in words, and there was no mystery about God, we certainly would not be better off.  But we humans have to use language to describe the mystery.  It would be better for us to think of the phrase "body and blood of Christ" as a metaphor (meaning:"beyond the literal")  While literal words can never do justice to the reality of our love for another human being, we never-the-less end up using the phrase "I love you" and have to let it go at that.  But we know there's a reality beyond those three words that can't be described.  The phrase "body and blood of  Christ" is a way of saying, "Jesus" resurrected presence is here.  Christ is present in this Sacrament to strengthen  our faith and draw us into his life style for the sake of the world.

Partaking of Holy Communion may be the one moment in the week when our willingness to believe and our desire to connect with a power greater than ourselves outweighs our need to have everything proved.

Why is Worship so Important?
Communal worship takes us out of the limitations of ourselves.  It gives us a way of remembering God's unconditional love for us.  Regular worship shows our love to God.  When we pray only alone, or think of God alone, we risk becoming too narrow in our vision of God, seeing God only from the limits of our own perceptions. Formal worship can take us so much further, both in our knowledge of God and in our praise of God.  Formal worship brings us into community where people can support each other and where we can encourage each other to live in ways God calls us to live.

What if I strongly disagee with the views of someone who professes to be a Christian?
Disagreement is a fact of life.  There is no family, and certainly no church family, free of disagreements.  The question should be, "How can I strongly disagree in Christian love?"  It is how we handle disagreements that makes all the difference.  As in a healthy family relationship, so long as we respect the person(s) with whom we disagree, so long as we accord them the privilege of holding their own views, we may disagee productively.

St. Paul compares the church to a human body with many different parts cooperating in the same work.  Uniformity and complete agreement are not part of Paul's analogy.  We need people with different understandings so that working together in love and respect we can grow in faith, respond to new opportunities.  Yes, Christians are expected to come to new understandings.

Ours is a living fatih.  while we cherish many traditions and need to build on the understandings of the past, in every age the Christian Gospel has to be reinterpreted in light of what is going on in our world and in our lives.  We face challenges unknown to our ancestors, and we are called to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bear on the problems and opportunities of our world.

What do Lutherans believe about creation vs evolution?
The ELCA doesn't have an official position on creation vs. evolution, but we subscribe to the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation, so we believe God created the universe and all that there is in it, only not necessarily in six 24-hour days.
"Historical criticism" is an understanding that the Bible must be understood in the culteral context of the times in which it was written.

What is the background of First Lutheran?
First Lutheran held its first public worship in 1909. It was originally a Swedish Lutheran congregation. Over the years, of course, the ethnicity has changed. Now as a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we are part of the largest denomination of Lutherans in North America with 5.1 million members and 11,000 congregations.

How can I contact the pastor if I have personal questions?
You may call (218) 283-2208 and ask to have Pastor Dorothy call you back.