About

Overview

Our Savior's Lutheran Church is a Christ-centered, grace-filled loving place for you and your family.

Serving the coastal community of San Clemente, California since 1953, Our Savior's Lutheran Church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA is made up of over 5 million members in the United States, and is a member of the World Lutheran Federation which has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing more than 61 million Lutheran Christians throughout the world.

Inspired to Love, Encouraged to Think, and Sent to Serve.

A church is much more than just its buildings, and at Our Savior's we are dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ both here in our community and beyond. While our school ministry is by far our largest outreach, we are also dedicated to lively worship, Christian education for youth and adults, social outreach, music ministry, and helping people build strong and lasting friendships by providing fellowship opportunities for the whole family.

We invite you to come worship with us at service, and to take advantage of the many ministries that we offer for individuals and families here at Our Savior's Lutheran Church.

Our Beliefs

God the Son 
We believe that God became human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. God did this out of divine love. Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection express that love for us. Because Christ gave his life for us, our relationship to God is restored. We are saved by God's gracious love. This reality stands at the center of our faith.

God the Father 
We believe that this entire universe is the fruit of God's imaginative and loving heart. God continues to cherish and care for all people and for all of creation. God longs to see the universe in harmony.

Holy Spirit 
We believe that God is present and active in our world, in our congregation, and in our individual lives through the Spirit. The Spirit activates and enlivens our faith and creates the Church that is the body of Christ.

One God 
We believe in one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is one in power and purpose and love. Along with the community of believers since the time of Christ, we continue to experience God as creator, savior and sanctifier.

The Bible 
We believe that the Bible, both the Old and the New Testament, contains the Word of God and is a faithful guides in all matters of faith and life. In and through our personal reading and community study of the Bible, in and through Bible-based preaching, the Holy Spirit continues to make Christ real and active in our lives.

Holy Baptism 
We believe that God acts through water and the Word to make us part of the divine family. In Baptism we are claimed and named and given the power to act and live as children of God.

Holy Communion 
We believe that in, with, and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion, Christ's presence is made real through His body and blood. When we celebrate this meal, Christ's love and forgiveness are given personally to each one of us.

Discipleship 
We believe that to trust in Christ is to follow Christ. To follow Christ is to love the world sacrificially, to serve others joyfully, and to proclaim the Gospel boldly to all peoples.

"Lutheran" Christians 
We believe that all those who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are part of the one Christian Church. The name "Lutheran" refers to our historical roots in the efforts of Martin Luther to reform the Church in the 16th Century. Lutherans are one of the largest mainline Christian denominations in the United States. Lutheran Christians have a unique identity that is rooted in the Lutheran Confessions, writings which help Lutherans understand how it is that God is at work in our lives, and which serves as an anchor to keep us firmly in Christ. The most famous of these writings is Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.

Lutheranism 

Lutheranism has its roots in the efforts of Martin Luther who sought to reform the Western Church to a more biblical foundation.

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teaching of Martin Luther, a 16th century German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation. The reaction of the government and church authorities to the international spread of his writings, beginning with the 95 Theses, divided Western Christianity.

The split between the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics arose mainly over the doctrine of Justification. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification "by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone" which went against the Roman view of "faith formed by love", or "faith and works". Unlike the Reformed Churches, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-reformation Church. Lutheran theology significantly differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of God's Law, divine grace, the concept of "once saved always saved", and predestination.