What We Believe

We Believe, Teach, and Confess

• That there is one God in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

• That every person is conceived and born in sin (original sin), and deserves temporal death and everlasting damnation for both original and actual sin.

• That Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, was truly crucified, died and was buried, and rose again in His body on the third day. He ascended into heaven, and will come again on the last day to be our judge.

• That a person is saved (justified) entirely by God’s grace, through faith, which is created by the Holy Spirit where and when He pleases.

• To obtain this faith, God instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry (preaching office). Through the means of the Word and the Sacraments the Holy Spirit creates saving faith.

• Believers must do good works, but they are not to trust in them for their salvation.

• There is one, holy, catholic (Christian) Church, with Jesus Christ as her head.

• The Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper are to be retained in the church.

• That the Augsburg Confession (of which the above items are a summary of the first thirteen articles) is a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture.

• The books of the Old and New Testaments are the true, inspired, inerrant Word of God.

• The rest of the Book of Concord is, like the Augsburg Confession, a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture, and we subscribe unreservedly to it.

Resources

To deepen your knowledge of the Lutheran confessions and our synod, we invite you to browse these resources:

• Small Catechism: A brief, clear synopsis of Lutheran doctrine.

• Book of Concord: The full texts of the Lutheran Confessions, which are a true and binding exposition of Holy Scripture. As such, these serve as authoritative texts for all pastors, congregations and other rostered church workers of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

• Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS): The church body of congregations with which Messiah shares altar and pulpit fellowship. Our altar and pulpit fellowship extends to LCMS partner churches around the world.

Pastor & Staff

Rev. Ethan Stoppenhagen, Pastor

Pastor Stoppenhagen is native of Ossian, Indiana and completed studies at Valparaiso University and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.

In his free time, Pastor Stoppenhagen enjoys staying active, cooking good food, reading, and spending time with friends and family. He would love to meet up with you for lunch or coffee.

Email him to set up an appointment: Pastor@MessiahLutheranGermantown.org

Sarah DeLacy, Music Director

Sarah comes from South Korea where she began serving in 2001 as an accompanist in Presbyterian (Kosin) churches in the cities, including Seoul, Uijeongbu, Daejeon, and Pusan. Following music conservatory studies, she was awarded a degree in church music from Yonsei University, and subsequently became Director of Music at Tree of Life Presbyterian Church in 2013. Her husband's work called them to DC in 2017. In this new world, she found solace and a familiar 'home' in the church serving as Organist and Assistant Director of Music Ministries at Church of the Atonement (ARP) in Wheaton.

Sarah's passion for music overflows into the lives of youth and adults alike. In Korea, she conducted the Dream Children’s Choir, an initiative aimed at nurturing musically underprivileged youth in Gyeonggi Province. Additionally, she directed the Christian Television System (CTS) Children’s Choir in Yanju. She has experience with choirs in professional settings as an instructor for employee choirs at Hyundai and Samsung. Sarah has a passion for choral performance with the Camarata Music Company’s Chamber Singers, the North-South (Korea) Young Adult Unification Choir, and international choral performances across the United States and Europe. Sarah is married to Daniel DeLacy, and they have two children- Enoch and Eitan.