Our Savior's Lutheran Church
4315 Oakdale Ave. | Westby, WI 54667 | 608-634-4871 | oursav@mwt.net
306 S Main St. | Westby, WI 54667 | 608-634-4871 | oursav@mwt.net
Skogdalen Lutheran Church
What we believe
At Our Savior’s and Skogdalen Lutheran Churches, we believe in the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We believe the good news of Jesus Christ is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh. Through Christ, all things were made, and through his life, death, and resurrection, God brings forgiveness, new life, and a new creation.
We believe that God speaks to us through Law and Gospel. Through the Law, God reveals our need for grace. Through the Gospel, God reveals mercy, forgiveness, and new life in Jesus Christ. This good news is at the center of our faith, our worship, and our life together.
We receive the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the written Word of God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures tell the story of God’s creative, redeeming, and life-giving work, centered in Jesus Christ. Through Scripture, God’s Spirit creates and sustains faith, forms us as the church, and sends us to serve the world.
As part of the Christian church, we confess the faith expressed in the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. As Lutheran Christians, we also receive the Lutheran confessional writings as faithful witnesses to the Gospel. Together, these guide our proclamation, faith, and life.
What it means to be Lutheran
Lutherans are Christians who are shaped by the witness of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Luther was a 16th-century biblical scholar, priest, and teacher who called the church back to the good news of Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture.
At the heart of Lutheran faith is the promise that we are made right with God by grace through faith. This means that we do not earn God’s love by what we do or say. Instead, God comes to us with mercy, forgiveness, and new life because of Jesus Christ.
Lutherans also believe in the priesthood of all believers. Every Christian has direct access to God through prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments. Every Christian is also called to share the good news of God’s love and to serve their neighbor in daily life.
We celebrate two sacraments: Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. In these gifts, God comes to us through ordinary things — water, bread, and wine — joined with God’s promise of grace, forgiveness, and life.
Luther also taught that worship and Scripture should be in
the language of the people, so that everyone can hear,
understand, and take part in the life of faith. We continue
to value worship, teaching, and community life that help
people of all ages grow in faith and live out God’s love.
As the church, we are a people created by God in Christ,
empowered by the Holy Spirit, and sent into the world to
bear witness to God’s creative, redeeming, and life-giving
work. We are freed in Christ to love and serve our neighbors.
