About Us

Our history

In 1994, a small group of dedicated Christians gathered together to hear the message about Jesus and to share that message with their friends and neighbors in the Tallahassee community. A total of four resident pastors have served the congregation since its inception in the mid 1990s, but the mission of proclaiming the good news about Christ our Savior has remained unchanged. 

Over the years, Faith Lutheran has met in several locations, all of them along Thomasville Rd. In 2007, the congregation purchased the property at the corner of Thomasville Rd. and Kerry Forest Parkway. Future plans for this property include construction of a permanent sanctuary and initiation of an early childhood ministry.

Our heritage

Our heritage traces back to a German monk named Martin Luther (1483-1546) who was at the center of the Reformation. The effect of the Lutheran Reformation of the Church on the history of the world can hardly be overstated. It caused one of the most profound changes in history. In fact, when US News and World Report ranked the most important events of the last 1000 years, the Lutheran Reformation placed second, right behind Gutenberg’s moveable type printing press. That means that they considered the Lutheran Reformation to be of greater significance than the discovery of the New World (number 3 on the list). But why? And who was this Luther anyway?

Martin Luther was a monk, a priest, and then a professor at a little university in Wittenberg, Germany. Why would someone like that be listed as the third most influential person of the last 1000 years (1000 Years and 1000 People, Gottlieb and Bowers), more important than Einstein, Edison, George Washington, etc.? All for the reason that we call ourselves “Lutherans.”

During the dark days of the Middle Ages, the truth of God’s Word was hidden away in monasteries. The church of that day was not teaching that we are saved by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Instead, people were told that they needed to earn their way to heaven—or worse, that they had to buy their way to heaven. The truth of God’s Word was rejected, and the traditions of men put in its place. Dr. Luther changed all that on October 31, 1517, when he nailed 95 Statements for Debate on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. He said that the Bible should be our only source of teaching, not manmade traditions. He showed that God saved us by grace alone, by faith alone. He returned the Bible into the hands of the people, and quite literally changed the world.

We don’t call ourselves Lutherans to a celebrate a man, but to celebrate the grace of God who reformed his Church, and brought back the pure and simple teaching that had been lost: Jesus Christ died and rose for me, so I will be in heaven forever. Period.

Our denomination

Faith Lutheran Church is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). The WELS, characterized as theologically conservative, is the third largest Lutheran church body in America. With national offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, WELS began in 1850 when three German pastors met in Milwaukee. Today, it has grown to over 1200 congregations in North America. It has over 400,000 baptized members, which includes over 300,000 communicants, served by over 1000 pastors.

The synod operates four ministerial education schools: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin; Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota; Luther Preparatory School, Watertown, Wisconsin; and Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, Michigan.

As members of the WELS, we share with our fellow believers in our synod's stated mission:

As men, women, and children united in faith and worship by the Word of God, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod exists to make disciples throughout the world for time and for eternity, using the gospel in word and sacrament to win the lost for Christ and to nurture believers for lives of Christian service, all to the glory of God.