Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Alexandria, VA

ABOUT PEACE

Purpose Statement: Sharing God’s love, growing in faith, and creating community.

Our Guiding Biblical Principles:

1.    Worship of the Triune God is central to our life together.

2.    We are grounded in Scripture and prayer, and we encourage each other to question, listen and learn.

3.    We believe everyone is loved and worthy of love; all people are welcome in God’s Kingdom.

4.    We respond to the needs of our neighbors near and far, following Christ’s example.

5.    We use our time, talents, and finances for the glory of God.

6.    We promote love and justice for all of God’s creation.

Our Vision:

Peace is a spiritually alive congregation where every active participant cultivates a relationship with God, has a sense of genuine community, and is engaged in service. Our worship is creative and beautiful, inspiring to life-long Lutherans and newcomers alike. Our congregation is multi-ethnic and economically diverse, with at least 25% of the members from within walking distance. Our congregation influences our neighborhood for the better, with a positive connection to the schools and contributing to an enriching sense of community life. We will be carbon-neutral and low-trash.

Description:

We are a neighborhood church on the western edge of Alexandria, VA. Our congregation has about 300 active participants with up to 100 in worship on any given Sunday. Our members come from all walks of life, including 7 different countries, all sides of the political spectrum, ages from 0 to over 102, a variety of economic situations, and diverse family/home lives. We consider the relationships at Peace to be like family – especially important as many of us live far from our original homes.

What binds us together is God’s reconciling and forgiving love, revealed most perfectly in Jesus Christ. Each of us is equally in need of God’s grace, As modern disciples of Jesus we engage in Scripture, prayer, worship, service, conversation, study, and fun as we seek to live out our baptismal callings.

Peace is a congregation of the Metropolitan DC Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). We are a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation, meaning that we welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. We are committed to the truth that all people are welcome in God’s Kingdom.