What We Believe, Teach, And Confess
There is one God in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Every person is conceived and born in sin (original sin), and deserves temporal death and everlasting damnation for both original sin and actual sin.
Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, was truly crucified, died and was buried, and rose again in His body on the third day. He ascended into heaven, and will come again on the last day to be our judge.
A person is saved (justified) entirely by God's grace, through faith, which is created by the Holy Spirit where and when He pleases.
To obtain this faith, God instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry (preaching office). Through the means of the Word and the Sacraments the Holy Spirit creates saving faith.
Believers must do good works, but they are not to trust in them for their salvation.
There is one, holy, catholic (Christian) Church, with Jesus Christ as her head.
The Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord's Supper are to be retained in the church.
That the Augsburg Confession (of which the above items are a summary of the first thirteen articles) is a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture.
The books of the Old and New Testaments are the true, inspired, inerrant Word of God.
The rest of the Book of Concord is, like the Augsburg Confession, a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture, and our pastors and congregation subscribe unreservedly to it.
For a simple understanding of our doctrine, we invite you to read the Small Catechism.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is a member of the South Wisconsin District, part of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). The LCMS is a doctrinally conservative church body with more than 6,000 member congregations. We are in fellowship with Lutheran church bodies on all five continents worldwide.
To learn more about the LCMS, click here.