Application for Membership
and Credentials for The Lutheran Orthodox Church
Please type or print legibly and fill in completely. You may use additional sheets.
DO NOT SUBMIT AN APPLICATION UNTIL YOU CONTACT US WITH YOUR INTEREST VIA EMAIL OR U.S. MAIL WITH A LETTER OF INTEREST AND AFTER A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW. A PERSONAL INTERVIEW WILL BE SCHEDULED WITH THE BISHOP CLOSEST TO YOU AT WHICH TIME YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE THIS FORM PREPARED. APPLICATIONS SENT WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION WILL BE RETURNED OR DISCARDED.
1. Full Name __________________________________________
2. Address ____________________________________________
3. City, State and Zip ________________________________
4A. Home Phone ____________ Business Phone ____________
4B. Email Address ____________________________
5. DOB _____________________ Male _____ Female _____
6. Marital Status _____________________________________
7. Name of Spouse _____________________________________
8. Names and Ages of Children in Home (optional)_______
____________________________________________________
On separate sheets:
9. Please submit a statement of your spiritual journey and why you seek Ministerial Credentials with the Lutheran Orthodox Church.
10. Describe your baptism.
11. Where do you attend church?
12. Are you a pastor? Are you ordained? If so, by whom
and when? Are credentials still valid?
13. Please describe your spiritual calling.
14. Please describe your Christian work during the past
several years.
15. How much time do you spend in spiritual work?
16. Do you have a secular job? If so, what?
17. Have you ever been convicted of a crime?
18. Are any charges, claims currently filed against you?
19. Are you currently in criminal litigation?
20. Have you ever abused drugs or alcohol? If so, what steps have you taken to remain clean and sober?
21. Do you believe homosexuality is a sin and therefore will oppose the ordination of homosexuals and same-sex marriages?(See Our Statement Of Faith).
22. Do you oppose abortion except to save the life of the mother?
23. Please detail your post-secondary education.
24. List your college degrees, if any, and any other state or
national licenses or certifications that you may have.
25. Do you FULLY understand you are accountable to the
Lutheran Orthodox Church and that credentials may be
revoked for conduct unbecoming of a minister of Christ?
26. Do you FULLY understand the LOC IS
NOT legally responsible for your actions?
27. Do you FULLY understand if granted membership and
ordination that you will be a member and minister of
the Lutheran Orthodox Church?
28. Do you FULLY understand ANY church or ministry you
plant will be a Lutheran Orthdox Church and
must register with the LOC ?
29. Do you FULLY understand that the LOC ordains both men and women to the Gospel Ministry in Apostolic Succession?
30. Do you FULLY understand ALL LOC
churches are congregational in government?
REFERENCES
Please provide letters of reference from a Pastor and a lay person attesting to your character, calling and fitness for the ministry. You are required to disclose any wrongdoings, past or present, concerning whether or not you have a criminal record or are currently in litigation. We are specifically inquiring about child abuse convictions. The Lutheran Orthodox Church will not tolerate any wrongdoing regarding minors. If investigated by a Judicial Committee and charges are found to be true, the Church shall not be bound by the Confessional Seal and any adult, clergy or others who engage in wrongful activity with minors will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Any clergy found guilty of conduct unbecoming a Christian minister shall be defrocked and removed from his or her office and all information shall be turned over to appropriate law enforcement authorities.
LUTHERAN ORTHODOX CHURCH STATEMENT OF FAITH
Ministers of the LOC are Lutheran Orthodox Minsters and must accept and adhere to our Statement of Faith and Core Beliefs. Your signature on this application reflects your acceptance and belief in the Statement of Faith found on our main page and with our core beliefs, provided below. In addition, by signing this page you agree to recognize all other church bodies which share intercommunion with the LOC. Please do not send an application if you are not in agreement with our Statement of Faith and Core Beliefs.
All Ordinations and Consecrations are performed at St Pauls Lutheran Chapel in Slatington, Pa, USA. unless other arrangements are made. You will not be a minister of The Lutheran Orthodox Church until or unless your consecration is performed by the Laying on of Hands in valid Historic Apostolic Succession of The Church.
It is the core belief of the Lutheran Orthdox Church that:
1. The Holy Scriptures, in the original tongues, are the inspired and inerrant word of God;
2. In one God, eternal and self-existent, Creator and Ruler of the universe, and manifested through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
3. That Jesus Christ is truly divine and truly human having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary;
4. That Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood as a Sacrifice for our sins; He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
5.That humankind was created in the image of God, but fell into sin causing separation from God;
6. That salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ ; and those who repent and believe on Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life and become the children of God;
7. That the water baptism identifies us with the death and burial of Christ and that we should arise to walk in the newness of life;
8. In the ministry of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ, to convict, to enable the believer to live a godly life and to empower the Church to carry the gospel into all the world;
9. In the personal and visible return of Jesus Christ for His Church;
10. In the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved and everlasting separation from God of all those who reject Jesus Christ.
11. The church is held together by closest of bonds, that being the True and Valid Historic Apostolic Succession, transmitted from one minister to another by the Laying on of Hands during a celebration of The Eucharist. No other Orders are valid.
MINISTERIAL ETHICS
Please read and sign, if in agreement,
1. I will maintain high ethical and moral values in all my dealings, personally and professionally;
2. I will respect each person's difference in style and personality as they follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit;
3. I will always be willing to learn;
4. I will only speak in edifying ways in regards to other ministers, ministries, and the Body of Christ at large;
5. I will treat all with whom I come into contact as I would like to be treated; and,
6. I will support and promote the Lutheran Orthodox Church in ways the Lord leads me.
Written Signature ______________________________________
Printed Signature ______________________________________
Date ___________________________________________________
Please print form, complete and send, along with supplementary sheets, copies of all educational degrees/certificates, counseling licenses, license to preach, certificate of ordination and letters of reference.
Lutheran Orthodox Church, PO Box 74, Neffs, Pennsylvania, USA, 18065
