Calvary Lutheran Church began as a small group of devoted Christians gathered under the guidance of Pastor Baglien in 1956. They met in a Grange Hall on Sunday mornings and had to pick up beer bottles before setting up chairs for worship. They grew into Calvary Lutheran Church and soon broke ground to build the beautiful sanctuary we enjoy today. Calvary has about 100 active members, with about 30
who show up on a typical Sunday. Calvary uses a variety of traditional liturgical settings as well as less structured contemporary music worship styles on Sunday mornings. During certain seasons on Wednesday evenings, we've been trying our own version of an ancient kind of worship called Agape Meals. This involves a simple soup supper, some informal discussion about a Bible text or other reading, followed by communion and prayer. I'm guessing most Christian churches believe in a thing called grace, which can be defined as God's free gift of unconditional love. We come to know this grace most fully through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Something like that. Lutherans really like this reality of God's grace. Our relationship with God is not dependent upon how good we are or what incredible things we do or how much we go to church or pray or know the Bible or how confidently we believe. We don't care if you've had extraordinary religious experiences or done amazing charitable works. Those are all good things, but we do not stake our lives on these things. We just trust what Jesus said, that God loves us, and wants us to be a part of the Kingdom of God. We think even our ability to believe in God is a gift from God. Also, we welcome anyone to receive God's free gift of Communion. Lutherans read the Bible. We consider the Bible the source and norm of our faith. Also, Luther had a couple of statements that inform our social ethics: "Sin boldly" and the idea that we are "simultaneously sinners and saints." Lutherans are uniquely equipped to enter into the messiness of life, those ethical dilemmas in which there isn't a clear right or wrong. We try to make the most compassionate and loving choices we can and "sin boldly", trusting in God's grace. Calvary is part of a larger group of Lutherans - the Oregon Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).
