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​​​​Beliefs

Jesus said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)

• We believe that the way of Jesus leads to abundant life -- a life of deep connection to God and each other.​

• We believe that through Jesus, God invites us into a new reality that is already all around us -- one of abundance, generosity, and hospitality. A reality where those considered "least" in our world take the place of honor, and where each member is essential to the community. This is the reality Jesus announces when he proclaims, "The kingdom of God has come near." (Mark 1:15)

• We believe that we experience God's reality in community, where we encounter Jesus through relationships that bridge our differences.

• We believe that living in God's reality means God's Spirit is with us, always expanding our community in surprising ways, just as the Spirit did in the earliest days of the church. 

• We believe that every living being is loved endlessly by their Creator and never beyond redemption. We constantly fall short of our calling as God's people, abuse the gifts God gives us, and hurt each other and ourselves. Yet we believe God's promises of forgiveness and grace, for everyone.

 

​​​​Core Values​

Our core values name the specific ways we encounter God in our particular faith community. 

• African Descent Witness: we are a multi-cultural community committed to our African descent roots.

• Diversity: we embrace all people and their unique gifts.

• Community: we invest in deep relationships in our church and our neighborhood.

• Holy Tenacity: we are determined to see God’s dream of justice become reality.

• Joy: in praise and in sorrow, we find joy in Jesus.

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Guiding Principles

Our guiding principles make public commitments to how we live out our values. 

• We will collaborate with diverse partners for the sake of the Gospel which means good news for the poor, persecuted, and marginalized.

• We will add value to our greater community by building on the assets of our neighborhood and congregation.

• We will prioritize our neighbors in Warnersville so together we might see our neighborhood and its residents flourish.

• We will reflect the diversity of our congregation in our leadership and decision-making, with a commitment to always represent our African-descent community.

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What's a Lutheran?​

We have folks in our congregation who were born into the Lutheran church and many people with no experience in the Lutheran faith tradition before joining Prince of Peace. The name "Lutheran" comes from the 16th-century German monk Martin Luther who was a reformer of the church (and for whom the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was renamed after his father made a pilgrimage to Germany). Luther emphasized that people are made right with God by God's grace alone, not by anything we earn or achieve, and his teachings sparked a reformation in the church. However, we don’t worship Martin Luther. We don’t even think he was particularly holy or special, and we denounce his antisemitism. We just happen to believe he got some things right at a time when the church was doing some things wrong, and so our movement of the "protesting" (Protestant) church took on his name.

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We are part of the ELCA, the largest Lutheran denomination in the US. The "E" stands for Evangelical which comes from the Greek word euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον) meaning good news. In recent years, this word has been co-opted by a particular political movement that does not represent the beliefs and teachings of the ELCA. The spirit of being evangelical means bearing God's good news for all people.​​​​