Shalom Community Lutheran Church is a fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ who gather to worship, learn and serve. We exist to help people become believers in Christ and help believers become disciples. We love God and we love people. We love that the Holy Spirit is at work transforming our lives. We are a Bible-based, Spirit-filled, Community Oriented and Mission Driven Church. We welcome you to join us!
Bible-Based: we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, not just a collection of writings by human beings about God (2 Timothy 3:16). Through the Bible, God speaks to us, comforting, correcting, teaching us. Because this book is a precious gift from God, we strive to study, interpret and apply it carefully. We also strive to let the Bible be the source and norm for what we teach, what we believe and how we live. We reject the notion that science, personal experience, tradition, or other human endeavors have equal footing with the Bible.
Spirit-Filled: We rejoice in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit with us, the promised gift of Jesus and Heavenly Father (Luke 24:49, John 14:16). The Holy Spirit not only calls us to faith in Jesus, Holy Spirit gathers us together with other believers and forms us into the Body of Christ, giving spiritual gifts that are valuable and necessary for serving the mission of Jesus Christ. We encourage believers to receive, recognize, develop and use all the gifts that God has made available. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17), and that freedom is not chaos. We also believe the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is essential to the well-being of the Church, and we believe that development of character is just as important as the development of power.
Community Oriented: We believe that being a member of a church means being a part of that church community. As a church, we want to share life together. We care for one another, helping one another with practical needs, celebrating the joys of life and standing with one another when life is hard. To be a true community, we need to gather regularly and be open with one another about what is going on in our lives. (Acts 2:42-47) We are also oriented toward our community, Starbuck and Pope County. We want to serve the people of this area, demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ in practical ways. We hope and expect that this town and county become brighter, more hope-filled places because this church exists. We want to know and respond to needs in our community, because that’s what Jesus would do.
Mission Driven: We exist to serve the mission of Jesus Christ in this area and beyond. We are willing to change practices and programs in order to more effectively serve as Christ calls us. We are willing to take risks, let go of personal preferences, invest resources in order to better reach those who don’t yet know Jesus and help believers become mature disciples.
