At Salem, we like to practice radical welcome, where we truly mean you are welcome in our community and we would love to have you! Yep, it is true.
Are you gay or transgendered? Come on over, God loves you and so do we!
Black or Hispanic? God loves you too and we’d love to see you!
Partnered/divorced/single parent/tattooed/poor/rich? Seriously, we could go on. Diversity makes us stronger. We would love to have you to help us grow in who we are.
Where does this welcome come from? Here’s a description in more formal words: Salem is a community that believes in God. We believe that God’s son, Jesus, was sent here to die so that we could experience grace and be forgiven for…whatever we need to be forgiven for!
We’re pretty fond of God’s creations, as well. That goes for the earth and the people in it, no matter who they are. Community, social justice, the environment and service are important to us.
Ready for some acronyms? Salem is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and for the most part we stand with them. If you’re unfamiliar with Lutherans, check out the ELCA website. Also, we are a Reconciling In Christ (RIC) church, which means we advocate for the full welcome, inclusion, and equity of LGBTQ people.
What else do you want to know? We like to try new things, switch things up a little and do things a little differently than your average church. What’s important is that God is great and we’re trying our best to create a church to honor that.