Lutheran Mission in Ireland Middle Parish, Cork City · Grace alone, Faith alone, Christ alone

What We Believe

We believe, teach, and confess the faith once delivered to the saints.

The Holy Trinity

We worship the one true God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three Persons in one divine Being, as confessed in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. We believe that Jesus Christ is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary; that He was crucified for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will return in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Holy Scripture

We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and the only rule and norm by which all teachers and teachings in the Church are to be judged. Church traditions, councils, and teachers — however venerable — stand under the Word of God, never above it or alongside it.

Justification: the heart of the Gospel

We believe that all people are by nature sinful and cannot, by their own strength or works, make themselves right with God. But God justifies sinners — declares them righteous — freely, by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, whose perfect life, atoning death, and resurrection are counted to us as our own. This is the article on which the Church stands or falls.

“We receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for His sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us.” — Augsburg Confession, Article IV (1530)

Good works follow faith as fruit follows a living tree. We do good works not to earn heaven, but because heaven has already been given to us in Christ — works flow from gratitude and love toward our neighbour.

Law and Gospel

God speaks two words in Scripture. The Law shows us God's holy will and exposes our sin; it can diagnose but never cure. The Gospel gives what the Law demands: it announces the free forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake. Rightly distinguishing these two is the key to understanding the whole Bible — and to a conscience at peace with God.

The Means of Grace

God does not leave us to search for Him in our feelings or efforts. He comes to us, concretely and certainly, through appointed means:

Preaching and Absolution

Through the preached Word, the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith. In Holy Absolution, the forgiveness Christ won on the cross is spoken directly to the penitent sinner — and that word is as valid and certain, in heaven also, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.

Holy Baptism

Baptism is not a mere symbol. It is water combined with God's word of promise, by which He works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe. Because Baptism is God's work and not ours, we baptise infants also — for the promise is for you and for your children (Acts 2:38–39).

The Sacrament of the Altar

In the Lord's Supper, the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are truly present, distributed, and received under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink — given for the forgiveness of sins. This is no mere memorial: Christ's words, “This is my body… this is my blood,” mean what they say. Yet we do not teach that the Supper is a sacrifice we offer to God for sin; it is Christ's gift and testament to us, His once-for-all sacrifice delivered to our lips.

Our Confessions

Because words matter and souls are at stake, we bind ourselves to a public, written confession of the faith. We accept without reservation the Book of Concord of 1580 — not as a rival to Scripture, but because it faithfully expounds Scripture. It contains:

This is what it means to be a confessional Lutheran church: our teaching is not whatever the current pastor happens to think, but a public confession, tested against Scripture and held for five centuries. You can read it all for yourself — and we encourage you to. Begin with the Small Catechism.

Our Fellowship

We stand in doctrinal fellowship with the confessional Lutheran churches of the International Lutheran Council, particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (ELCE) and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).

Read the Small Catechism Why Lutheranism for Ireland?