Who We Are

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Augustana Lutheran Church is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (also known as ELCA) a denomination of nearly 3.3 million people. 

The ELCA has 65 synods across the United States. Our congregation is a part of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod (also known as I-K Synod).

The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton is the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA.

The Rev. Bill Gafkjen is the Bishop of the I-K Synod.

• We confess the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) 
• We proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
• We trust in the Gospel as the power of God for salvation of all who believe
• We embody forgiveness, dignity, compassion, and justice
• We respond to God’s grace by loving the creation, especially the poor, hungry, lonely, and vulnerable

Our baptism is a significant part of our faith journey as we come from the baptismal waters to live a new life as children of God. Marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Spirit, we receive a new identity as followers of Jesus, and the story of Jesus becomes our story. It is often said that we need to be attentive to the words we say, and this is especially true as we examine the words that are said at baptism. Together we hope and pray that those being baptized will be nurtured in the faith, grow into their baptism, learn to trust God, and live as disciples of Jesus.

The Seven Faith Practices are:

Pray, Study, Worship, Invite, Encourage, Serve, Give

These faith practices:

• Draw us to God
• Shape and form us
• Nurture us in faith
• Conform us to Christ
• Deepen our relationships with God, our faith community, and our world
• Align us to the pursuit of God’s will and God’s kingdom

One way to understand the connections between 

the Baptismal Covenant Faith Practices and the Seven Faith Practices:

• To live among God’s faithful people – Pray
• To hear the word of God and Share in the Lord’s Supper – Study and Worship
• To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed – Invite and Give
• To serve all people, following the example of Jesus – Serve
• To strive for justice and peace in all the earth – Encourage

In the last half of the 1800's Swedish immigrants, along with other Scandinavian, German, Italian, Dutch and Swiss immigrants, began getting off the train at Elkhart, Indiana, to find jobs in the growing factories and on the railroads.   

The old Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church on Harrison Street was German, so the Swedes organized their own congregation in 1873 and built a church at 10th and Mason Streets in 1875 where the services were in Swedish. At the turn of the 20th century many families lived within walking distance of their neighborhood church and Elkhart was no different. Many Swedes lived on Mason Street not far from the railroad. They named their church Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.  Years later the name was changed to Augustana Lutheran Church to identify the Elkhart congregation with the synod name adopted by Swedish congregations in the last half of the 1800's. The name Augustana was derived from the Augsburg Confession drawn up in 1530 at Augsburg, Germany, by Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon and others outlining the Primary Confession of Faith of the Lutheran Church and to explain their religious convictions.

By the mid 1920's English was adopted for Sunday morning services although Sunday Evensong continued in Swedish. Then in the early 1950's the congregation broke ground for a new church on Kilbourn and Pleasant Streets, in the quiet neighborhood area to the north of the hospital and west of the downtown area. Since 1951 Augustana Lutheran Church has been blessed to have a parish made up of many people and families from a variety of heritages, backgrounds and traditions--honoring Augustana's strong roots while giving it new life and hope for the future.