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About
Sunne.
In 1893 a group of Swedish immigrants
gathered to form a Swedish Lutheran
congregation. For over 100 years
people have worshipped the Lord on top
of this hill on the North Dakota
prairie. Over the years, Sunne has
become a congregation with members of
many ethnic backgrounds, religious
denominations and worship
traditions. All those who proclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are
welcome to become members of Sunne.
Just what are Lutherans?
Back in 1517 a German Roman Catholic
priest by the name of Martin Luther
tried to reform, or change, the Roman
Catholic Church. For his efforts
he was kicked out of the church.
His followers were known as
"protesters" or Protestants
and laughingly referred to as
"Lutherans." Martin
Luther never wanted to reform his
church. Over the years the
Lutheran Church and the Roman Catholic
Church have changed in ways that make us
somewhat similar in worship practice and
thinking.
What are our core beliefs?
- We are a church that proclaims
that God is known through the Trinity:
God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit.
- We are saved from our sinful selves by
God's grace (God's love in action) given
to us as a gift through Jesus Christ.
- God's grace comes to us through the
sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy
Communion. Sacraments are those
actions commanded by Jesus Christ that
have a physical element and bring us
God's grace.
- In baptism, God reaches out to us and
claims us as God's own. "You
are mine," says God. From
this time on we are part of God's
family. The water of baptism
washes away our sinfulness every day of
our lives.
- In Holy Communion, God brings us
forgiveness of sins through the body and
blood of Christ. Christ is present
in the bread and the wine. We can
feel God's forgiveness spread throughout
our bodies and our lives.
We
believe that we cannot earn God's favor,
God's love or our way "into
heaven." Instead we are
completely dependent upon God's grace.
If
this is true, why bother to do good
things in life? We live our lives
confident that God loves us. In
response to God's love and forgiveness,
and out of respect for God, we struggle
to live our lives as God would have
us. We attempt to love God with
all our heart, soul and mind. We
attempt to love our neighbor as our
self.
Our whole life is an expression of
our faith.
We cannot separate faith from
the actions of our life. As we
live out our faith, members of Sunne are
encouraged to grow spiritually. We
grow spiritually by worshipping weekly,
by praying and reading the Bible daily,
by serving the church, by serving
outside the church, by tithing, and by
nurturing spiritual growth through
relationships.
All
members are encouraged to......
-
Worship every week. In
worship we gather to hear God's word
proclaimed. We gather to give
thanks to God. We gather to give
and receive support with one
another. Worship is central to our
faith.
- Pray daily and read the
Bible daily. Prayer is simply
talking to God and listening to
God. The Bible is God's word to
us.
- Tithe. Tithing is
giving ten percent of our income to the
work of the Lord. In response to
all that God has given us, God asks that
we give a percentage to honor God.
Each person decides what is that ten
percent.
- Serve their
church. Serving could
involve: ushering, cleaning,
teaching, painting, serving on
committees, serving on the church
council, and spreading the news about
the work of the Lord at Sunne.
There are many opportunities to serve.
- Serve outside of their
church. Serving in this way could
include: serving on community
boards, raking a neighbor's yard,
visiting the sick, visiting the shut-in,
making cookies for a person in
need. There are many opportunities
to serve in this way.
- Live their faith with
one another. We teach faith
through relationships with each
other. We welcome each
other. We invite each other.
We pray for each other. We care
for each other.
 Parish
Nurse.
We have a parish nurse to
provide care to people of all ages and
backgrounds. Joan Auch can be
contacted via phone at 734-6485 or
258-3432.
The Church is the body of Christ.
The
Church is the people of God.
Sunne is part of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.
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