FAITH is a congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The church was founded in 1965. More than 300 people worship at FAITH each Sunday. FAITH has some 750 official "members," as well as many other "friends" who are quite active in the life of the church. Almost 90% of these people have become affiliated with FAITH in just the past 10 years. The church has doubled in size in this time period. It is one of the largest and fastest growing Lutheran churches in New England. If you are interested in visiting FAITH, please call the church in advance to check on worship times (978) 475-4059. There are 10,800 Lutheran churches in the United States with 5+ million baptized members. The New England Synod consists of 200 congregations. Pastors Jon and Marsha have served FAITH for the last 14 years. They graduated from the Divinity Schools at Duke and Yale. Marsha has a degree in Music with majors in voice and piano from Westminster Choir College. Jon majored in Public and International Affairs at Princeton. They have two grown sons. Marsha is the Protestant Chaplain at the Lawrence General Hospital. Jon also teaches part time in the theology department at the Brooks School in North Andover. Through Jesus Christ we have been brought into relationship with God. Having experienced God's grace in our lives, we strive to be a supportive community, sharing God's love and grace through worship and caring service to our neighbors and our world. The three words that represent the vision of Faith Lutheran Church are: Invite, Equip and Send. These three words are to be used as guidelines in all of the ministries that Faith Lutheran undertakes. Does the event or ministry invite people to come and worship? Does the event equip people for ministry or send them out to minister? The Lutheran Church grew out of the Reformation in Europe in the 1500s. Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic monk, sought to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church. In matters of faith he felt that the Bible should be our authority and not the teachings of the church. His ideas were not well received and he was excommunicated. The modern Lutheran Church holds to the authority of scripture. However, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) does not take the Bible “literally,” and recognizes that the bible needs to be interpreted. Although the church provides social statements on a variety of issues, these statements are not seen as “law,” so much as they are seen as guidelines. Lutherans have two sacraments – sacred moments – which are sacraments because they are based on the command of Jesus from scripture. One sacrament is Baptism, as Jesus said to “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” The other sacrament is Holy Communion, as Jesus said “Do this in remembrance of me.” All people in the church – pastors, engineers, business people, homemakers - are seen as equal in the sight of God. Pastors have a particular calling to serve the mission of the church, no different than those who serve the Lord in their callings in business and the home. The ELCA celebrates the marriages of pastors and will ordain women to be pastors. Faith Lutheran is administered by a council of 9 people and Pastors Jon and Marsha. The 9 council members are elected by the church at the annual meeting. The council “runs” the parish and reports to the church at the annual meeting.