Belief
Lutherans profess the historic creeds of the church, which proclaim that God is a Trinity - the Creator, Saviour and Comforter of all that exists. Lutherans especially emphasise that God offers his eternal love to humans as a gift - it is not something that they can earn by what they do.
In Christ, God has shown us that he accepts us as we are, with our many failings. In believing that alone, we are put right with God. Lutherans sum this up by saying that we are "justified through grace, through faith". Such faith empowers people to express love to their neighbours freely - not in an effort to win God's salvation, but in praise of the God who loves us unconditionally and eternally.
Practice
Services are typically traditional in style with a defined liturgy which involves the creed, communion, a sermon, readings from both Old and New Testaments and vestments for the pastors. The congregation is encouraged to take roles and give voice to their faith through song.
On the subject of music, Luther extolled it as a "precious gift of God", and as such is a significant part of Lutheran worship; Bach and Mendelssohn wrote for their churches and their work is often played. A consequence of this is that hymns often have a Germanic flavour. A Lutheran Hymnody was compiled early in the church history and has been added to ever since with some songs translating to other churches.
The practice of ordaining women is common through most of the Lutheran churches today although there is a theological dispute as to whether this should be restricted to men.
The organisational structure of Lutheran churches is quite open since it is not regarded as necessary to Christ's teachings. Instead, there are loose confederations within and between countries, and in individual churches the congregation usually has a strong voice. Many have bishops as the senior administrator. In Britain, the Lutheran Council of Great Britain serves as an umbrella oragnisation for the twenty nationalities of church congregation. St. Lukes is one of the congregations of the Lutheran Council in Great Britain (LCiGB). This council in turn is a member of the Lutheran World Federation.
