Zion is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a member of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA.
We are a congregation of baptized members of the church of Christ, joined with the saints who have gone before, and responding in faith to the call of the Holy spirit through the Gospel. We are committed to its work of preaching the Word, administering the sacraments, and carrying out God’s mission.
The Sacraments
The Lutheran church celebrates two sacraments – Baptism and Holy Communion.
Baptism and Holy Communion have been instituted by Jesus. The sacraments are a means of grace–ways in which God in Jesus Christ is present through the Holy Spirit in the physical materials of water, wine and bread, The Word of God, and human actions. The sacraments point to God’s promise and salvation.
The Sacrament of Baptism
Baptism is a gift of God. In Holy Baptism, in the water and the Word, God is at work forgiving sins, giving new life in Christ and bestowing the gift of the Holy Spirit. In this sacrament, we become children of God and heirs with Christ in the kingdom of God.
Baptism is fundamental to our faith. It is a response to Jesus’ command, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
In Holy Baptism, God liberates us from sin and death by joining us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Born children of a fallen humanity, in the baptismal waters we become God’s reborn children and inherit eternal life. By water and the Holy Spirit, we are made members of the Church, which is Christ’s body. As we live with him and with his people, we grow in faith, love, and obedience to God’s will.
– ELCA Service of Holy Baptism (paraphrased), Lutheran Book of Worship pg. 121.
When children are baptized, parents, sponsors and the whole people of God make promises: “to faithfully bring our children to the services of God’s house, and teach them the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments. As they grow in years, we are called to place the Holy Scriptures in their hands and provide for their instruction in the Christian faith, that living in the covenant in their Baptism and in communion with the Church, they may lead godly lives unto the day of Jesus Christ.”
Together we move forward on a journey of faith in which we nurture and support one another until God calls us into our eternal home.
Who can be baptized?
Baptism has no restrictions on age or maturity. Lutherans have practiced infant Baptism for centuries. Infants and young children are baptized for the same reason adults are -because of the command and promise of God. What is promised in Baptism is given to all who receive it.. Infants and young children are made children of God in the waters of Baptism. Jesus commanded the disciples to go to “all nations.” Infants and young children are included in the word “all”. Jesus specifically invites little children to come to him in Luke 18: 15-17. He admonishes his disciples to “Let the little children come to me and do not stop them for it is to such as these that the kingdom of Heaven belongs.” Infants and young children need what Baptism gives.
“Martin Luther taught that, if baptism were dependent on faith, we would scarcely ever arrive at the assurance of having sufficient faith to justify baptism. Instead, he taught that since baptism is part of what God does, not something that we do, Jesus Christ brings the child to the baptismal font, holds it in His arms, and receives it as a member of His body.”
– ELCA Theologian, Martin E. Marty
The ELCA and the Sacrament of Holy Communion
What is the Sacrament of the Altar?
Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion. “In the night in which He was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me. Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.”
We believe that the bread and wine of The Lord’s Supper “are the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, a sacred meal instituted by Christ for Christians to eat and to drink.” (Luther’s Small Catechism) “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” show us that in this Sacrament, salvation and life are given to us through these words.
How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?
It is certainly not just the eating the bread and drinking the wine that give us forgiveness and life, but the words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Whoever believes these words has exactly what these words say: “forgiveness of sins.”
In Holy communion it is not just the elements of wine and bread that bring us an empowered life in Jesus Christ. It is the words of Jesus whose outward signs of the elements of wine and bread that point us to God’s promises, the forgiveness of sin, life and salvation.
Who may receive Holy Communion?
We practice open communion. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ may commune; all of God’s people are welcome. The invitation is given by Jesus, “Do this for the remembrance of me.”
Called to Serve the World
“The whole being of any Christian is faith and love. Faith brings us to God, love brings us to people.”
-Martin Luther
We aspire to live lives in faith, serving others generously trusting in God’s promises. We hope and pray others will see the work of God and the light of Christ as we serve the church, the community, and all the world. God does not need our good works. Our neighbors do. God has called us into relationships with neighbors across the globe.
Responding in love and serving the least among us, we love as God first loved us. We partner with local, regional, and international organizations to steward our time and resources to build up the Body of Christ.
