About
Beliefs
Our mission as a congregation is stated as follows: “Loved by God, we share Christ’s love with all.” We believe that God does, in fact, love this world and all of us living in it. We know that we are not perfect, sinful even. However, we believe that God has revealed that our flaws and failings have been dealt with by God’s love. We also believe that we have been called to “share” the love revealed to us through Jesus. Share, not in the sense that we have something which others need – but share in the sense that we believe God has given to each of us a part to play in making a difference in the world. Each of us has a share in that work and we do our part when we love one another.
Please visit the ELCA's website to learn more about our church's beliefs!
www.elca.org/Faith/ELCA-Teaching.
Or, please feel free to contact our pastor (Rev. Steven C. Bond) at pastorstevebond@aol.com with any further questions.
Reconcilling in Christ
Being an RIC church means we are committed to being an all-encompassing community of faith, welcoming people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, disabilities, and all cultures and national backgrounds into the life and leadership of our church. In 2019, we began the Loved by God Committee (LGB), with assistance from ReconcilingWorks, to begin the process of becoming RIC to better demonstrate Advent’s purpose statement of “Loved by God, we share Christ’s love with all”. In 2022, our congregation overwhelmingly voted in support of becoming an RIC church, and since then, we have continued working and learning–in collaboration with the ELCA–how to make our church and worship services a more inclusive place for all to gather.
Some of the updates we’ve made to Advent Lutheran as a RIC church include: updating our wedding policy to include marriage for all couples regardless of sexual orientation, participating in community Safe Space training seminars, organizing educational trips to learn more about the cultures within our community, and much more on the way!
For more information on ReconcilingWorks, please visit: https://www.reconcilingworks.org/
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Some people believe that Churches never change or even that they should never change. However, as a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Northeast Ohio Synod), we confess that we are “Always being made new.” This is a place where we discover what it is to be made a new creation in Christ. Advent is a dynamic and vibrant congregation where new ministries are developed to meet the needs of our world and the gifts of our members.
Rev. Steven Bond
Pastor
Office hours Monday - Thursday 9 am until 3 pm. Off on Fridays. Please call the church office, as his office schedule can change as needs arise.
Sue Keeley
Office Administrator
Office hours Monday - Thursday from 9 am - 4 pm. Fridays from home 9 am-3 pm. Please call the church office with questions or needs at 440.257.5565.
Christine Noble
Advent’s Parish Nurse
Office hours vary. Please call the church office at 440.257.5565
Tracy Ammon
Praise Team Director
DOREEN MATTSON
Chancel Choir Director
For questions about the choir, please call 216.389.7611
