Dear Friends in Christ,

The Lord be with you!

Perhaps you are visiting this website because you are curious about this congregation and its identity, beliefs, and practices.

I’ll start with this: there are two large Lutheran church bodies in the United States. The largest is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The second-largest is The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS).

Crown of Life is a member congregation of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

I was prepared to be a Pastor at one of our two LCMS seminaries. Tommy Moll – our Minister of Youth & Discipleship – was trained to be a Director of Christian Education at one our LCMS universities in Nebraska.

It was the ELCA – not the LCMS – which recently met in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As part of their Churchwide Assembly they decided that they will now allow actively [non-celibate] homosexual men and women ‘in committed relationships’ to serve as pastors and professional workers in their church body. The ELCA will now also allow congregations to ‘bless’ same-sex unions as though they were marriages.

We also believe and teach that God’s Word does not change, hence it is clear and strong that homosexuality is contrary to the design and will of God. We also believe and teach that we are all sinners in need of the cross for no sin is greater than another.

This is the simple but powerful Good News that we proclaim and celebrate Sunday after Sunday: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” [Romans 5:8].

So we continue to strive to be both a people and a place that humbly seeks, receives, shares, and celebrates God’s undeserved grace in Jesus Christ – delivered to us through the written and proclaimed Word and through our Lord’s sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

I hope these words have been helpful to you by giving clarity where there may have been confusion or concern.

If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts about this letter – or about any aspect of your spiritual journey – I would welcome such conversation. Feel free to give me a call [210-490-6886] or e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

In His service,

Pastor Mark Barz

Click here for a letter from the Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, relating to this same issue.