Our Pastor
Pastor Kister has been a pastor for 17 years in New Mexico and Minnesota.
He enjoys leading Bible studies, biblical theology, and studying the original languages of the Bible.
Outside of parish responsibilities, he plays the trumpet in the community band. He also enjoys woodworking & attending car shows with his classic Camaro. His wife Val, is a talented counted-cross stitcher and enjoys leading ladies’ Bible studies. Thaine & Val have been married for 20 years. They enjoy traveling & visiting national parks.
We believe…
In One God, who created the universe and everything in it and still sustains it.
That the one God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
That He reveals the Truth about Himself and about our human condition in the Scriptures (the Bible) which is His inspired and inerrant Word.
That we and all humanity are all born sinful and unclean and that we of ourselves cannot improve our sinful condition and deserve death.
That God the Father sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, who willingly became human, being born of the virgin Mary, to teach God’s will, to suffer at the hands of sinful humans, to die a bloody and painful death on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, and to rise to new life, defeating death, so that we would be cleansed and our sins forgiven (justified) and that we would be made right (righteous), and also that He has ascended to the right hand of the Father and will come again on the Last Day to judge all mankind.
That, from the Father, through the Son, the Holy Spirit comes to us to create and continue faith within us. He does this especially through the hearing of the Word and the Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
That the Holy Spirit also protects and builds up the Body of Christ (the whole church) so that all members of the Body are fed and nourished by God and from this flow love, care, support and the building up of one another in the Christian faith and in unity.
That baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit washes the sinner clean and brings them into the promise of God that Jesus Christ saves all the faithful.
That in the Lord’s Supper (Communion, Eucharist) Jesus Christ’s true body and blood are given to you to forgive your sins, strengthen your body and spirit, and to renew you as God’s beloved child whom God Himself desires to love, care for, and join with.
That every Christian is called to live out the faith in love toward God and love toward the neighbor — this flows from the joy of the renewed relationship Christ has purchased for us; however, such good works are not to be relied upon for salvation but are the marks of a true Christian.
That the unaltered Augsburg Confession is a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture.
That the Book of Concord is also a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture, and we subscribe unreservedly to it.
