Our mission:
We seek and welcome all to connect, celebrate, and serve in God’s love.
Our vision:
That all have life through the love of Christ
God loves you and you belong here at Lord of Life Lutheran Church!
Lord of Life Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) located in The Woodlands, Texas, about 30 miles north of downtown Houston. Lord of Life was founded in 1970. Originally located on Interstate 45 in Oak Ridge North, we acquired a piece of land in the newly developing community of The Woodlands in the mid-1970s. Our building at the corner of Glen Loch and Panther Creek was completed in 1979, and we have been here ever since growing along with The Woodlands. We affiliated with the ELCA in 1988, shortly after it formed. Our neighborhood and our congregation have seen lot of changes, but we remain committed to serving The Woodlands and our surrounding area and also working with ministry partners around the world.
As Lutherans, we continue in the tradition of Martin Luther and other reformers as they followed Jesus, proclaimed grace through faith, and sought the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. As a congregation, we strive to understand and express God’s unconditional, abundant welcome for all people. Our mission and vision statements affirm our commitment to God’s boundless love. Regardless of age, race, origin, sexual orientation, or religious background, you are a child of God and you belong here.
Learn more about our mission, vision, and values.
Read more about our congregation’s history.
What We Believe
Lutherans are a large group of Christian denominations that grew out of the Protestant Reformation of the early 1500s in Germany. There are many kinds of Lutherans around the world and in the United States. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) formed in 1988 as a merger the American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and the Lutheran Church in America. We voluntarily affiliated with the ELCA shortly after its formation. As congregation of the ELCA, we share a few ways of understanding and expressing our faith that distinguish us from some other Lutheran congregations.
Core Beliefs
We believe in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) as proclaimed in the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. We believe Jesus is God’s son who became fully human, and that his death and resurrection have created a path toward redemption for the entire world. We believe that God’s love and grace is for all people and that, fundamentally, God is working to restore all people into right relationship with God. We believe that the Holy Spirit continues to be among God’s people today. The Spirit leads us in wisdom and truth and inspires us with God’s hope for our community.
Prayer – Prayer is a central component of our spiritual and communal life. We pray before meetings, in worship, in our homes, for healing, for guidance, for the safety of others. We believe prayer is a powerful tool that connects us to God and makes us aware of God’s presence in our world. While we have communal prayers that have been handed down through history (such as the Lord’s Prayer), we encourage everyone in our community to pray on their own in whatever words and style best suit their needs.
The Bible – We read the canonical scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God. This is the authoritative source and norm for our preaching, teaching, and shared life together. In our reading, the Holy Spirit continues its work of inspiration, bringing forth insights and interpretation that are meaningful for our place in history. We also believe that the Bible is meant to be read in community. When the Word is proclaimed among God’s people, the wisdom of God comes forth from our unique perspectives in the world. As Lutherans, we read the Bible through the lens of “Law and Gospel.” This means that all scripture has the ability to both remind us of our sinfulness (Law) and offer us a glimpse of God’s grace and love for us (Gospel or “good news”).
Worship and Sacraments
Worship is the main gathering for God’s people at Lord of Life. Within our worship, the sacraments are the main vehicles through which we experience the grace and love of God.
Worship – Worship should reflect the needs and expressions of the people. The liturgy (literally “the work of the people”) of worship exists to offer guidance and structure to that expression. Our worship services reflect the needs of our gathered community and strive to meet the needs of our surrounding community that is not yet with us.
Sacraments – The sacraments (“holy things”) are the means through which we experience God’s grace. As Lutherans, we recognize two sacraments: baptism and communion.
- Baptism is the way we are welcomed into God’s family and celebrate what God has done and continues to do in our lives. As the water washes over us, we are brought into new life through Jesus Christ. We will baptize someone at any age (including infants) because baptism is entirely about what God is doing on our behalf through Jesus and has nothing to do with any action or decision we make. We also believe that you only need to be baptized once, and we recognize all baptisms performed in the name of the Trinity as valid in the eyes of God.
- Communion is the meal in which God feeds God’s people. At Lord of Life, we celebrate communion each Sunday. We gather by remembering the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples, repeating the words that Jesus spoke, and trusting God’s Spirit to be present with us. We recognize that Jesus is truly present in this meal as we receive the bread and wine, while acknowledging that the bread and wine have not changed into a new thing. Communion is also a means through which we receive a tangible reminder of God’s forgiveness that has already been proclaimed for us. At Lord of Life, we believe all people are invited to communion because it is God’s table not ours. We also strive to make communion accessible to as many as possible by providing gluten-free wafers and grape juice in addition to bread and wine.
