About Us

Who We Are
About Prince Of Peace Lutheran Church

Holy Bible
At Prince Of Peace Lutheran Church, nestled in the heart of Goshen, IN , we are a community that believes in the power of faith, hope, and love to transform lives. Established in 1982, our church has been a beacon of light for countless individuals and families, offering a place of refuge, and a community that has the privilege of receiving sustenance from God and support from each other.

We offer bible study that is both stimulating and uplifting, encouraging each of us to live a life of purpose and faith. There's nothing more transformative than the power of faith in action!
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Our Beliefs

We believe the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, inerrant in all its parts and the sole source of doctrine for faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16)

We Believe in one Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19f)

We believe and teach that man is not the chance product of evolutionary processes, but the rational, accountable creature of the all-wise, almighty God. Man was created holy but through Adam’s fall into sin is now by nature corrupt, alienated from God, and totally incapable of saving himself, which includes so-called “deciding to follow Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1-3, 8-10)

We believe and proclaim that all mankind was redeemed from sin, death, hell and the devil by the innocent life, substitutionary death and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through Him forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are now given freely in the Gospel to all mankind and are received by faith alone, which is also a gift from God. (Romans 5: 6-10, 3:28)

We look forward to the personal one-time return of the Savior who will judge the living and the dead, taking all who believe in Him home to heaven. (Titus 2:11-15, Mark 16:16)

Our Mission

The Apostle Paul once said, “We preach only Christ crucified.” And in saying that, Paul implied “and risen.” That is our mission statement in a nutshell. We preach and teach and confess Christ crucified and risen for the world. Our mission is to faithfully apply God’s Law and His Gospel so that this message is believed by all who come into our midst. We trust in the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — to accomplish this through us by the means of His Word and Sacrament.
To Him be the glory!

“…but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles…” 1Cor.1:23
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Our Staff

Pastor Andrew J. Wollman

Welcome to our website in the name of our Lord Jesus!

I am Pastor Andrew J. Wollman. I was married to Karen Westerbeek in 1983. We have two young adult boys in their 30's, Evan and Elliot. I grew up mostly in Northern Indiana, and after teaching public middle school English (primarily) for 11 years in three different states, I went to Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne and graduated with the class of 2002. We pastors receive all kinds of classifications: High church, low church, contemporary worshippers, confessional, liberal, and just about everything in between.

I would describe myself as a confessional pastor with very few high church tendencies, and very little interest in contemporary worship practices.  I love the liturgy, our Lutheran Confession of Holy Scripture — what a treasure that is! And I appreciate very much the Lutheran worship heritage that has been handed down to us. My goal, I hope, is that of Christ's: To apply Him — his life and death and resurrection — to the life and death and resurrection of the people He has given me to shepherd. Come and be served by Him with us sometime!  email me if you'd like!

Statement of Faith

 
On the basis of Holy Scripture and in unity with the one holy, Christian faith, we believe, teach, and confess that:
 
  • The only true God is the triune God, the holy Trinity. He is three equal and eternal Persons (Matt. 28:19; 2 Co. 13:14; John 15:26) within one divine Essence (Deut. 6:4): God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This teaching was revealed most clearly by Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father (John 1:18).
     
  • Since the fall of Adam into sin, every person is conceived and born with original sin (Romans 5:12ff.; Psalm 51:5; Psalm 58:3). This original sin results in both total corruption of human nature (Genesis 6:5; 8:21; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10-18) and condemns one before God. It renders the person spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-3; Col. 2:13) and blind (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; 1 Corinthians 2:14) and totally unable to love, trust, or fear God above all things or to love one's neighbor as himself (Romans 8:7-8). Because of this all people are sinners before God (Romans 3:23).
     
  • Jesus Christ is true God, eternally begotten of the Father, and also true man, born of virgin Mary, and is the only Savior from sin and Mediator between God and humanity (John 1:1-3; John 20:28; Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:20-23; 1 Timothy 2:3-6a; John 14:6; Acts 4:12). This same Jesus
     
  • by his perfect life, and sacrificial death and resurrection, He won complete forgiveness for all sins and eternal life for every human being who has ever lived and will live (Isaiah 53:4-6; Mark 10:45; 1 John 2:1-2; Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Hebrews 9:26-28; 1 Peter 2:24-25);
     
  • He rose bodily from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-5);
     
  • He ascended into heaven and reigns at the right hand of God as Lord over all (Acts 1:9-11; Ephesians 1:20-23); He will come again on the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead (Matthew 24:30-31; 25:31-46).
     
  • We cannot get forgiveness of sins or righteousness (sinlessness/what every person needs to enter heaven) by our own good works, love, or holiness. We become righteous before God by His grace, for Christ's sake, through faith when we believe that Christ lived, sufferred, died, and rose for us and that for His sake righteousness, forgiveness, and eternal life are given to us. This is what the Bible means when it says that we are "justified by faith apart from the works of the Law" (Romans 3:21-28; 4:5; Galatians 2:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 3:7-9). Faith is not a good work that we do, but the empty hand that receives the gift of righteousness and forgiveness that Jesus won for us. Faith itself is a gift.
     
  • By God's decree, the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation are offered and given through the preaching of the Gospel and the Gospel in all its forms (the written Word of God, Baptism, Absolution, Lord's Supper). In other words, God not only saw to it that our sins were atoned for through the cross of Christ; He also arranged a delivery system to bring that blood bought forgiveness across the centuries and throughout the world. The Gospel (preached, read, Sacraments) is that delivery system. Through the Gospel, the Holy Spirit creates saving faith in Christ, when and where He pleases (1 Corinthians 12:3). For this purpose, Christ has instituted the Office of the Ministry and sends pastors to preach and administer the holy Sacraments in His stead and name (John 6:63; 16:12-15; Luke 24:47; Matthew 28:19-20; John 20:21-23; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 4:1).
     
  • Good works, love, and holiness of life are the fruits of saving faith in Christ, not the cause of such faith (John 15:1-5). We are saved for good works not by good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). We must do all good works that God has commanded but not in order to be saved by them.
     
  • The one holy Christian Church, properly speaking, is all those who truly believe in Jesus Christ, among whom the Gospel is preached purely and the Sacraments are administered according to the Gospel. Thus the Christian Church is found wherever these things are present, even if hypocrites and unbelievers are present (Matthew 16:16-19; 18:20; 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:25-27).
     
  • Holy Baptism, water applied in the Name of the Triune God according to Jesus's institution (Matthew 28:19), truly saves (1 Peter 3:21), causes one to be born again (John 3:5; Titus 3:5), delivers and applies grace and the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Ephesians 5:25-26), unites the one being baptized to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:11-12), gives the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and causes one to become a member of Christ's body (1 Corinthians 12:13).
     
  • Holy Communion, or the Holy Supper, instituted by Christ Himself, is the true body and blood of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, given under the forms of bread and wine, for Christians to eat and drink, for the forgiveness of their sins (Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 10:14-21; 11:23- 26).
     
  • Holy Absolution is a great and precious word of forgiveness to the troubled sinner. Holy Absolution, the forgiveness of sins spoken by the Pastor to a penitent sinner in Jesus's name, truly gives the forgiveness of sins with the full authority of the resurrected Christ (Matthew 16:19; 18:18; John 20:21-23). This word of forgiveness is to be heard and believed as the word of Christ Himself speaking to us (Luke 10:16).
     
  • The Christian life is one of continual repentance (sorrow over sin, then belief that our sin is forgiven for Christ's sake; Mark 1:14-15). That one has truly repented who turns away from the sin and brings about changed behavior that is pleasing to God (Matthew 3:8).
     
  • Jesus Christ will return visibly on the last day for judgment, will raise up all dead, and will give everlasting life and joy to all believers, but will condemn unbelievers and the devil to everlasting punishment (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 1:7; Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29).
     
  • Though man possesses freedom of the will to choose and decide in earthly matters, he does not initially have freedom of the will in spiritual matters, but is spiritually blind and dead. Only when the Holy Spirit creates faith in His heart does he again have freedom in spiritual matters (John 6:44; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Ephesians 2:1-10).
     
  • Holy Scripture, the Bible, is in every word of the God-breathed (inspired) and inerrant Word of God, the only source and final authority of all doctrine and life claiming to be Christian. Its main purpose is to proclaim the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:21).
     
  • The key to understanding Holy Scripture correctly is the distinction between Law and Gospel; that is, all Scripture is either Law, which shows us our sin, commands good works, threatens us with punishment, and Gospel, which shows us our Savior, offers us forgiveness, promises, comforts, and strengthens. Both are necessary throughout the life of the Christian (Romans 3:21- 22; 2 Corinthians 3:6-11).

Becoming a Member

We invite you to consider becoming a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran.
We believe that your life and the life of our church will be richer if you do. Membership in a church is about discipleship. It is about being a faithful follower of Christ, in agreement with one another regarding doctrinal matters. You can join us by transfer, or join Pastor's class, which wonderfully takes you through all that we believe.

If you are interested in becoming a member, please complete the form below.

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