Greetings and Welcome to the Prairie Star Lutheran Parish which
is part of the South Dakota Synod, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran
church in America.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America resulted from a union of
three North American Lutheran church bodies: The American Lutheran Church,
the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the Lutheran Church
in America.
The three churches agreed to unite in 1982. They formed a 70-member
Commission for a New Lutheran Church, which planned the merger. The plan
was approved by church conventions in 1986, and the ELCA constituting
convention was held April 30-May 3, 1987, with the church actually
beginning operations on January 1, 1988.
The ELCA meets in assembly every two years; at its 1995 Churchwide Assembly it elected its second bishop, The Rev. H. George Anderson
1.This church confesses the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2.This church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel
as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe
Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom
everything was made and through whose life, death, and
resurrection God fashions a new creation. The proclamation of
God's message to us as both Law and Gospel
is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy through word
and deed, beginning with the Word in creation, continuing in the
history of Israel, and centering in all its fullness in the person
and
work of Jesus Christ.
The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the
written Word of God. Inspired by God's Spirit speaking through
their authors, they record and announce God's revelation centering
in Jesus Christ. Through them God's Spirit speaks to us to create
and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the
world.
3.This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and
norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.
4.This church accepts the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds
as true declarations of the faith of this church.
5.This church accepts the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness
to the Gospel, acknowledging as one with it In faith and
doctrine all churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered
Augsburg Confession.
6.This church accepts the other confessional writings in the Book of
Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the
Smalcald Articles and the Treatise, the Small Catechism, the Large
Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as further valid
interpretations of the faith of the Church.
7.This church confesses the Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures
and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional
writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the Church for
God's mission in the world.