A Tale of Two Churches
Trinity Lutheran and Bethany Lutheran
His Law always accuses us and cannot save us since we’re sinners. Trinity
We believe all people are created in God’s image and loved by God. Bethany
In January of 2025, I wrote a blog about Trinity Lutheran Church in Denver, CO. Trinity calls themselves a confessional church, meaning their mission statement clearly states what they believe. “At Trinity what you see is what you get.” I have no problem with that. I’d rather that a church be upfront about their beliefs than see them luring people in under false pretense. My problem, however, is that I just don’t like their brand of christianity (i.e. Lutheranism). We’ll explore that topic in a future blog.
I assumed that all Lutheran churches were the same, and then I discovered Bethany Lutheran, (also in Denver). Aside from the fact that Bethany is also a “what you see is what you get” kind of church, it was hard to believe that they both call themselves Lutheran. Trinity’s mission statement is clear that there are certain kinds of people, (including other christians) who are not welcome at their church. Bethany’s website, on the other hand, clearly states that everyone one is welcome, saying,
“Bethany Lutheran Church values people of diverse race, sexual identity, ethnicity, and political affiliation.”
That one difference really surprised me, so I took a deeper dive into these two Lutheran Churches and found out that they have very little in common. Here’s a snapshot of their differences.
Love
Trinity: “The Bible has two big commands that God gives us: to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Everything else boils down to those.”
Notice that these two mentions of Love are commands. Christians are commanded to Love God and love their neighbors. There is no mention of God’s love for mankind anywhere in Trinity’s mission statement.
Bethany:
- As Christians, we believe all people are created in God’s image and loved by God.
- God’s love for humanity.
- We are led by the Holy Spirit to love and work for justice and peace.
- Serving everyone, suffering everything for the love and praise of God.
- To love and serve neighbors.
- God in Christ loves us.
- God’s love for us.
- God’s unconditional love.
- In response to that love, we are set free to live gratefully and lovingly.
- God’s never-ending love
- God’s love
- Frees us to love others.
- God’s unconditional love for us.
- God’s love is unfathomable.
- God’s infinite love.
- God’s love
- God’s love for us is limitless and persistent.
- Cannot separate us from the love of God.
- Compelling message to love & care for one another
- Do justice and love mercy
Sin
Trinity: By “sin” we mean every word, thought, and deed against God’s Law.
- The law cannot save sinners.
- God’s holy law always accuses sinners.
- There is no hope for sinful men except in Jesus Christ.
- Only the gospel can save us from the punishment of sin in Hell.
- This gospel is to save sinners from death and Hell.
- His Law always accuses us since we’re sinners.
- Can be boiled down to sin and death.
- The first sin of our parents Adam and Eve has passed on to us a defect called original sin.
- Along the way to death, we commit sins.
- Those sins… lead us to death.
- Death is not natural except for sinners.
- If sin could be taken away from us, then we could be saved from death.
- The law curbs sin so that it doesn’t destroy everything.
- The Law shows us our sin.
- God saves us from our sin and death.
- Made an atonement for our sins.
- Salvation from sin, shame, and death.
Bethany: What is sin?
- Jesus took upon himself the sin.
- We live in the tension of still being sinful.
- Sin is a complicated thing to talk about because it comes in many forms.
- Sins can be individual as well as communal.
- Sin is separation from God.
- It’s difficult to admit our sins.
- God promises to forgive our sin.
- When we confess our sins, we are assured of God’s forgiveness.
Grace
Trinity: (one reference)
- Our salvation is all grace – a free gift.
Bethany:
- God’s grace is a gift.
- We have confidence in God’s grace.
- God has shown such grace.
- Saved by God’s grace and God’s grace alone.
- We receive the gift of grace by faith alone.
- The gift of grace expresses God’s unconditional love.
- God’s grace is limitless and for everyone.
- We respond to that grace by serving and loving our neighbor.
- Grace is a gift from God’s infinite love.
- We experience God’s grace in times of need.
Welcome
Trinity: No mention of welcome.
Bethany: “Welcome is what our church strives for. We recognize that there are groups and communities of people who have been hurt by experiences with church. They have been made to feel that they cannot be their God-given selves in church settings. Our fundamental belief is that God’s love and grace are limitless and for everyone. Bethany Lutheran Church values people of diverse race, sexual identity, ethnicity, and political affiliation. We invite you to worship and encounter a God who loves us.”
Will the real Lutheran Church please stand up.
What’s obvious from this snapshot of these two churches is that even though they both call themselves Lutheran, they are on opposite ends of the christian spectrum. Bethany, clearly a progressive church, focuses more on Love and specifically God’s Love. On the other hand, Trinity, being more evangelical, emphasizes the importance of sin and death and never once mentions God’s Love.
If I were a church goer, (which I am not) I would choose to attend Bethany. Their multiple references to God’s love and their stance on acceptance of everyone would be very appealing to me. It’s still perplexing to me why anyone would choose a church that fails to mention God’s love in their mission statement. But that’s not the real issue here, is it?
Both these churches call themselves Lutheran, but given their striking differences, I found myself asking, “Which one is actually following the teachings of Martin Luther? Which one of them is faithfully following the creeds and beliefs that Luther established in his writings?”
For me, the church that most closely aligns itself with the teachings of Martin Luther, would be the true Lutheran church. In the next blog we’ll compare the mission statement of both Trinity and Bethany to see how they match up with writings of Martin Luther himself.
Will the real Lutheran Church please stand up.
From Where I Stand
Sept. 1, 2025
Dale Crum