Who: Mission & Calling
Why would you want to come visit us at Pilgrim Lutheran in Bethesda, Maryland? Simply because of our people. It’s our people that makes Pilgrim Lutheran such a special place.
It’s our people who bring the words of our mission to life – “Welcoming God’s people; faithful to His Word.” Let’s closely look at that statement’s parts to more fully explain what it means to us here at Pilgrim Lutheran.
Welcoming God’s people
Pilgrim Lutheran is best known for its people. Pilgrim people go out of their way to welcome those who come to Pilgrim. You will truly be welcomed if you visit us.
Greeters will welcome you in our church entryway as you join us for worship. Worshippers will greet you during the service as we share the peace of God with one another. Pilgrims literally go out of their pew to greet one another with God’s peace. And we also go out of our way to greet those we don’t know with God’s peace!
Pilgrim’s people will welcome you. If you want to come to a church that will truly welcome you as you visit us, join us at Pilgrim Lutheran.
Faithful to His Word
“Faithful to His Word” has several different levels of meaning here at Pilgrim Lutheran.
First of all, it describes our approach to God’s Word, the Bible. We believe it is God’s inspired Word. As Lutheran Christians the Bible is the source from which we get all our beliefs. All that we believe comes directly from the Word of God.
Second, who we are as a welcoming community of believers is defined because we seek to be faithful to His Word. God calls us to help introduce others to a relationship with Jesus. For those who already have that faith relationship, our calling is to help them (and you!) deepen that faith relationship.
Our pastor puts it this way: “We help you find your place in God’s story.” If you want to learn about God’s story and your part in it, we invite you to join us at Pilgrim Lutheran.
Third, being faithful to His Word means that everything we do at Pilgrim Lutheran seeks to revolve around or be generated out of God’s Word and our understanding of it. That includes Christian education classes, youth activities, junior and senior choirs, ladies events, and all of the other activities we do at Pilgrim Lutheran. We believe our calling to be “faithful to His Word” means that all we do and who we are is centered in that phrase.
Pilgrim Lutheran’s Calling
Ultimately our calling is defined by our mission – Welcoming God’s people; faithful to His Word. As a community of believers gathered around the Word of God we will not compromise these congregational values as we go forward in our walk with Christ. These values help define who we are and point us toward our God-given calling:
- Outreach and Evangelism
- Preach and Teach the Gospel
- Worship
- Bible Study
- Serve Others
- Doing God’s Will
- Personal Relationship with Christ
These values support our God-given vision. Our best understanding of God’s will for the future of our congregation.
Pilgrim will be known as a beacon of God’s light to this community, a flourishing place of Spirit-led people, and as a resource of leadership and service. We will be a witness to God’s inspiring love.
Our guests will be welcomed, encouraged, enlightened, embraced, and befriended. They will be invited to enjoy God’s blessings with us and to be touched by Christ.
Our members will be nourished by God’s Word and supported by God’s grace. As one body, our faith will be active, motivated to minister and serve as God’s light in this place!
We encourage you to visit us so you can experience who Pilgrim Lutheran is for yourself! In addition, you might wish to look at our section on the Four Needs. This expresses what we’re trying to become so we might better meet the needs of God’s people.
We’re also working on a series on Vision that might interest you. It gives some background into vision and why its important.
