WELS (The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) is a Christ-preaching, Bible-believing, people-serving church. As Lutherans we trace our roots back to the Reformation of the sixteenth century. More appropriately, as Lutheran Christians, we trace our roots back to the time of Jesus Christ, for we believe and teach what Jesus taught his apostles to teach. We are called the Wisconsin Synod because our church body was organized in the state of Wisconsin about 150 years ago.

Our Lutheran Heritage

As Lutheran Christians we are fully committed to the three-fold foundation of the Reformation: grace alone -- faith alone -- Scripture alone. We believe, teach and confess that salvation is ours by the grace of God, which is his undeserved mercy, through faith in Jesus Christ, as taught in the Word of God. We hold to the Bible as the completely true and inspired Word of God, the only source and authority for Christian faith and life.

Our Christian Confession

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). This is the sum of our faith. On the basis of this and many other passages in Scripture, we believe, teach and confess that:
-- There is one God, who has revealed himself as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
-- Mankind and this world are God's creation.
-- All people, because the first man and woman disobeyed God, are conceived and born in sin and throughout their lives commit sin in thought and word and deed. As a result all people are naturally under God's condemnation, deserving of his anger and eternal punishment.
-- God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to be the Savior of all people. He satisfied God's justice by living a perfect life in our place and he suffered the consequences of the world's sin by his crucifixion and death. He thereby paid for the sins of the world.
-- God raised Jesus from the dead, giving us the certainty of our salvation.
-- By faith in Jesus as our Savior we have the forgiveness of all our sins and the sure hope of eternal life.
-- At death our soul goes to be with God in heaven.
-- At the end of the world Jesus will come back to judge the living and the dead, taking all who are God's own by faith in Jesus to live with him forever.
This we believe, teach and confess.

An Educational Church

One of the strengths of the WELS lies in our program of Christian instruction and training. Nearly one-third of our churches maintain Christian grade schools. In addition we have a network of nineteen Lutheran high schools, two colleges and a seminary for the training of future pastors and teachers. Our aim is to teach the Word of God in depth and in simplicity to children and adults. Our sermons and Bible studies are Christ-centered and grounded in the Word of God. For personal spiritual growth our church produces a family magazine, "The Northwestern Lutheran", and a daily devotional booklet called "Meditations." We also maintain our own publishing house for the production of a full line of Christian literature.

A Mission-minded Church

The WELS has established over 200 new churches in the past 25 years, so that today we have a total of over 1200 churches located in every one of the 50 states. Just over two decades ago we were active in only 16 states. We also carry on a world-wide mission program with mission churches in Zambia, Malawi, Cameroon, Nigeria, Antigua, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and India. We take seriously the command of Christ to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person. We want what God wants, that "all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).

A Caring Church

As a church we operate a number of homes for the aged, a home for the retarded and Christian counseling services. We have a committee for relief, which assists in a personal way people hit by disaster in various parts of the world. We are a Christian church committed to the faith of Jesus Christ, committed to serving people in the name of Jesus Christ.
WELS is a Christian church for all people. We invite you to join us in growing in the joy and peace of Christian faith and life. We invite you to come to the WELS and be filled with the living water and new life in the living Word.


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