Welcome Lutheran ministers and serves in many partnership relationships.
As a congregation of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we
are partners with ELCA congregations throughout the world
in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We are also partners
with the congregations in southeastern Texas and
southern Louisiana who work together as the
Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the ELCA, and
those who
share the ministry of the Brenham Mission Society and Bluebonnet Coalition of
Churches.
The Welcome Place has a
partnership with the
Lutheran Seminary Program of the Southwest
through the
Welcome Lutheran Scholarship Fund, awarding a scholarship each year to
students
studying for careers in full-time church work or pastoral ministry.
Through the companion
synod program of our synod, we are also partners
with the
Peruvian Evangelical Lutheran Church and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic.
The Welcome Place is
also a partner with the
Misión Luterana
San Pablo
in Weslaco, Texas, together with other congregations which
support this Hispanic ministry.
The Welcome Place is
a partner with seven local congregations of
other denominations who work together for ministry in service in our
area, including the
West End Christian Community Organization and the
Mission Meals
Ministry.
(ARTICLE II - Constitution of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church of Welcome)
Salem Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Welcome confesses the
Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This congregation
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.
This congregation 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.
This congregation accepts the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian Creeds
as true declarations of the faith of the congregation.This congregation 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.This congregation 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.This congregation 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.
The Church is a
people created by God in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit,
called and sent to bear witness to God's creative, redeeming and sanctifying
activity in the world.
Therefore, our
purpose for existence as Christ's congregation in Welcome
is to have members assist one another to grow in trust in the one God - Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit - and to mature in the task of holding high the honor of
our God,
by means of the Gospel of Grace and of authentic love.