"Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world.”
--The mission statement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
For many, baptism marks us with the cross of Christ on our brows for the first time. Often in the Lutheran church children are brought to a font in a public gathering to recognize God’s claim upon their lives, and the lifelong journey of the Spirit sending them out in mission for the sake of the world. And since it is a lifelong journey of faith, often called faith formation, people enter into Christian community through baptism at various ages and stages in life.
The Children’s Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America seeks to focus on intergenerational lifelong faith formation of Christian communities found in households, congregations and children-centered ministry settings.
In efforts to cohesively cover the first third of life for faith formation, the Children’s Ministry of the ELCA partners with the ELCA’s Youth Ministry, Young Adult Ministry, and ELCA Youth Gathering. In addition we work alongside the Evangelical Lutheran Education Association, Augsburg Fortress, and the ELCA’s Outdoor ministries.
Together in mission; marked, claimed, gathered and sent, our goal is to journey with you in faith formation, as our children learn to live out Jesus’ love.