We're So Glad You're Here
We are a community of believers who are committed by God’s Word to worship, teach, serve, and reach out to all through the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We welcome you to come to join us as we worship together, serve our community, or just visit. We are always seeking to grow our community of faith to better support one another in the love of Christ.
Reclaim
RECLAIM – Reclaim and realize your baptismal promise. You have been made children of God and an inheritor of eternal life. And by this, we are called into life with the body of Christ. Through this, we can see and be reminded of God’s love for you as you walk with God daily and in worship. (UP - worship)
Recharge
RECHARGE – Reinvest in relationships through the study of God’s Word, serving one another, fellowship, and by creating a safe place for all God’s children. Through serving one another, we will be refreshed and recharged from the daily grind of our world. (IN – church life)
Revive
REVIVE – Reenter our lives (the world) with a fresh kingdom mind and heart. We go out into our worlds refreshed and ready to share the Word of God in Word and deed. This is where we carry out the call of Christ to make disciples. (OUT – evangelism, outreach)
Our Beliefs
We believe, teach, and confess the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe, teach, and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe in him.
- Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom everything was made and through whose life, death, and resurrection God fashions a new creation.
- The proclamation of God’s message to us as both law and gospel is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy in the person and work of Jesus Christ through whom God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself.
- The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God. Inspired by God’s Spirit speaking through their authors, they record and announce God’s revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through them God’s Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world.
We believe, teach, and accept the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the sole authoritative source and norm of our proclamation, faith, and life.
We believe, teach, and confess the gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the priesthood of all believers for God’s mission in the world.
We believe that God comes to us, through the power of the Holy Spirit in His Word and delivers us from sin because of Jesus Christ. This we certainly know to be true. We also hold the view of the church found in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul’s writings, and the rest of the New Testament. We are tasked by Christ to carry out the mission of the Holy Spirit, the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20). Because of this, we hold the words of King Solomon found in Proverbs 29:18 to be important to the life of this church –
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
What is “Reclaim, Recharge, Revive?” As redeemed sinners living through Jesus Christ, we know that God not only allows but encourages U-turns. This means we believe in “RE-DO’s.”
The inspiration for this vision comes from Micah 6, where the prophet inquires of God, “what does our Father require of us.” Of course, as good Lutherans, we know that His grace is free. Yet, we all wonder the same thing as the prophet, what does God wish to see from us? This was God’s reply – “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
St. Johns has over 150 years of history ministering the grace of Jesus Christ in the Springfield, MN area. The first congregation was formed on May 15, 1870, under the name Leavenworth Norwegian Lutheran Church. Since that time the Holy Spirit has led the people of St. Johns to active ministry with an emphasis on family, faith formation, and the mission of spreading the Good News.
LCMC – Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ
LCMC is not a denomination, but rather an association of Lutheran churches that comes together with these guiding principles –
- We are free in Christ
- We are accountable to one another
- We are rooted in the scriptures and the Lutheran confessions
- We are all working together to fulfill Christ’s great commission to go and make disciples of all nations.
The three words that best describe the primary focus of the Augustana District are: Theology, Church and Mission. We exist to serve congregations of LCMC by tending to theology, serving the practical needs of congregations and actively promoting and coordinating mission ventures. Our District Council, four boards, part-time service coordinator and support staff assist the district in carrying out these commitments.
History
May 15, 1870
St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran congregation was first organized by Rev. J.C. Jacobsen, Home Missions representative with a membership of 65, and it was given the name, Leavenworth Norwegian Lutheran Church.
Congregation was incorporated adopting the name, St. Johannes Norwegian Lutheran Church. Services were held in homes and later in schoolhouses.
June 13, 1882
1889
The first church service was held on one acre of land donated by Arne Nelson, located four miles east of Springfield. The same pastor served both Sundown and Westbrook, so services were held every third Sunday.
St. Johannes and Sundown discontinued their affiliation with Old Westbrook forming a separate charge. A parsonage was jointly purchased in Springfield.
June 8, 1901
September 11, 1902
First ladies aid was organized with 21 members.
First Sunday school was organized.
November 19, 1911
September 20, 1914
Cornerstone of new church building was laid in the city of Springfield.
New church site was purchased. This is the current site of the church today.
April 11, 1955
