What We Believe

Friedens Church of Washington is blessed with a rich heritage. We submit to Holy Scripture and affirm the creeds and confessions of the Evangelical and Reformed faith. Specifically, the Augsburg Confession, the Evangelical Catechism and the Heidelberg Catechism are recognized in our Church Constitution.

Our purpose is to establish, promote, and maintain in this community an evangelical Christian congregation for worship, for the promotion of the Christian life, and for development and building of the Kingdom of God both in this community and throughout the whole world. 

We are Evangelical

What do we mean by evangelical?

Friedens was originally called Friedens Evangelical Church, and a member of the Evangelical Synod of North America, or, as it called itself, "The Evangelical Church." This was an American denomination of German immigrants that was of mixed Lutheran and Reformed (Calvinist) identity. 

"Evangelical" sometimes means "Lutheran." Martin Luther, in his Reformation breakthrough, recovered the εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion) - the gospel, "good news". Luther and other protestant reformers declared the biblical truth that a sinner is justified by faith alone, through grace alone, through Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. We are proud to be in the Evangelical heritage of Luther.

In 1817, the 300th anniversary of Luther's reformation, the Church of the Prussian Union was formed by King Frederick William III. This body, also simply called "The Evangelical Church" was a merger of the formerly distinct Reformed and Lutherans. Our charter members were immigrants from this Prussian Evangelical heritage.

Evangelical also has a distinct Anglo-American connotation. The great awakenings were periods of renewed Christian religious identity in the country, marked by figures like Jonathan Edwards and Francis Asbury. "Evangelicals" today are a major part of American public life.

Evangelicals can be defined by four characteristics called the "Bebbington quadrilateral":

1. Biblicism: a high regard for the Bible

2. Crucicentrism: a focus on the atoning work of Christ on the cross

3. Conversionism: the belief in the necessity of conversion

4. Activism: the belief that the gospel needs to be expressed in effort

In all these ways; the literal sense of the gospel, the historic Protestant sense, and the current sense of living out a biblical faith, we are proud evangelicals.

We are Reformed

What do we mean by Reformed?

The Reformed movement is the brother of Lutheranism. It is especially associated with Switzerland, the Netherlands, Scotland and parts of Germany. Reformed theology emphasizes the sovereignty of God, simple and holy worship, and salvation as a free gift of grace. Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Dutch Reformed churches are part of the Reformed family.

The distinct Lutheran and Reformed movements are said to split at the time of the Colloquy of Marburg (1529), when Ulrich Zwingli and Martin Luther could not come to an agreement regarding the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper. While good and distinct Lutheran and Reformed churches continue to exist, our tradition is one that sought to reconcile and worship together.

The "Reformed" in "Evangelical and Reformed" also refers to the Evangelical & Reformed Church, the 1934 merger of the Evangelical Church with the Reformed Church in the US, both German speaking denominations in America. Friedens was a member of the E&R church until it too merged with the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ in 1957. Our church voted to leave the UCC in 2022. 

Today

Our long history has given us a wealth of Christian identity. Being from a mixed background might tear some churches apart, but we are all the better for it. Most of all, we have unity in Christ. He saves us from our sin, gives us new life, and puts us together in a body we call the church. You are invited to come and see how God is working in Old Washington.