Mailing address: Box 23033, Fredericton, NB, E3B 7B3
SUNDAY WORSHIP 1:00 p.m. Christ Church Parish, 245 Westmorland St.
We are a part of the larger Christian community, a congregation of people from a wide variety of cultures, who express our faith through the traditions, theology and liturgy of the Lutheran Church.
Our purpose is to make a home for the sojourner, to meet the spiritual, social, emotional and physical needs of our members and those around us, by providing opportunities for worship, witness, learning and support.
The Lutheran Church is the largest Protestant denomination in the world -- almost half of all Protestants are Lutheran. We Lutherans see ourselves as Christians whose faith is built upon what the prophets and the apostles taught, who accept Jesus Christ as Lord of life.
As such, we echo the rediscovery Martin Luther made of several central Christian principles.
Luther believed that we are set right with God by faith alone. He posted ninety-five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, to ask the university community to discuss "justification by faith" with him. He was so convinced that the Bible was all the authority Christians needed for their faith that he dedicated the rest of his life to translating the Bible into the language of the people, so they could read and discover the Good News of salvation through Christ alone for themselves. To this day in the Lutheran church we read and study the Bible. Our liturgy and hymns are based on the Scriptures. The Bible is central to all we say and do.
We as Lutherans thus identify ourselves by four basic Lutheran concepts:
We know our relationship to God is certain because God's Word explains it to us. The scriptures are objective, clear and unchanging. We value and trust in God's word, the Bible, above tradition, canon law, confessions or human decisions.
Justification by faith is the heart of salvation. Although we sin, we know that God has won the victory for us in Christ's death and resurrection. As soon as we accept Jesus in faith as our Lord and we let go of our sin and our own pursuit of righteousness, we are fully justified by that faith.
Luther revived the biblical teaching that everyone who is baptized is a priest, with duties and powers to be used responsibly. Pastors are set apart to preach the Word of God, administer the sacraments (Baptism and Holy Communion), and provide good order in the congregation, and they prepare for their calling with a university education followed by several years of theological education. However, the clergy do not belong to a higher order. They hold office by virtue of being chosen by congregations, under the oversight of Synods and the national Church.
As Christians, we are free to do anything unless we violate our neighbor's freedom. We give up our freedom, as did Christ, to serve others, but claim it as a Christian principle worth dying for when it is jeopardized.
You will find we worship in much the same way as Lutherans around the world, with an underpinning of Word and Sacrament (Scripture and Holy Communion) expressed through a liturgy which is a balance of traditional and contemporary forms of praise and prayer. Lutherans have always respected long-standing traditions in music, for instance, but also feel the responsibility to know and heal the current needs of today's often chaotic society.
You will find in St. Matthew a small but friendly group of Christians from all races and all walks of life. You are warmly invited to participate with us in the worship and work of St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church.
1:00 p.m.: Sunday Worship followed by Fellowship
We are located at 1039 Regent Street,
Fredericton, NB E3B 3Y9
(beside Shoppers Drug Mart/Medical Building)
Telephone: Church: 450-1416 Pastor: 455-3432
Telephone:
Pastor residence:
Rev. Tom Smith (Interim Pastor)