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Our Beginning

Naz has a rich history, starting 150 years ago

One hundred and fifty years ago, a group of Danish emigrants who recently moved to Black Hawk County were moved by the Holy Spirit to pray and act in establishing a place. A place to gather together to pray; be in fellowship as the body of Christ; hear and receive the Word of God; share communion; all for the purposes of knowing Christ, growing in Christ and making Christ known. The name chosen for this fellowship was Nazareth Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. Evangelical was central to witness because Jesus, crucified and risen, is the good news of light and salvation overflowing for the world to know and embrace.  Lutheran was a connecting point to the Apostle Paul's declaration in Ephesians 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life". The common language at Nazareth has changed over the years, but the passion of Jesus and His message of hope and salvation continues to be celebrated now and passed onto future generations. We are disciples, commissioned by our Lord and empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be disciple makers. Nazareth continues the journey and is a place where people are invited to assemble in prayer, fellowship, worship, and in service - both in and beyond our walls. We gladly hear and learn God's Word and encourage others to see and give glory to God.

Our Mission

Living together in God’s amazing grace, we invite all people to know Christ, grow in Christ and make Christ known.

Our Values

Holy Discontent – Righting What’s Wrong

Responsiveness – Action, Not Apathy

Relationships – We Are Better Together

Leading Beyond Our Walls – Around the Corner, Around the World

Our Beliefs

These are the foundational Christian teachings we believe at Nazareth. This congregation accepts all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as a whole and in all their parts as the divinely inspired, revealed, and inerrant Word of God and submits to this as the only infallible authority in all matters of faith and life.

Who God is: God is creator and sovereign. 

Jesus is the Son of God: God freely sent Jesus into the world as a gift who, through the cross, conquered sin, death, and Satan.

The Holy Spirit: God sends the power of the Holy Spirit to create and strengthen faith in the lives of believers.

The Bible: The Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God.

Salvation: God saves and changes people through a personal and living relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Church: God creates the Church. Historical creeds and confessions testify to the Church’s biblical foundation and mission.

We are His Disciples: Those given new life in Christ bring others the good news of salvation by telling the story of Jesus and living Christ’s compassion in and for the world.

Jesus will Return: God will conclude human history through the second coming of Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead.

Human Sexuality:
Speaking the Truth in Love

2023 Council

Bob Saathoff (President), Chris Hansen (Vice President), Craig Blanchard (Treasurer), Kristina McBurney (Secretary), Lisa Arenholz, Julie Creeden, Nathan Greiner, Wayne Jacobson, Kristie Lehman, Interim Pastor Mike Brost

An ELCA Congregation

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States of America, with nearly 3.3 million members in more than 8,900 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region.

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