Holy Word is a beacon of grace in an unstable world.

Holy Word is a church based in London Aldgate and working to share the hope of God’s Word across the United Kingdom.

Church in London Aldgate begins on Sundays at 11am.

Church in Wolverhampton begins on Sundays at 12:30pm.

The simple answer is because of Easter.

God has not told us when we should have church. We are free to choose. Christians have traditionally held church on Sunday as a weekly celebration of Christianity’s crown jewel, which is a belief in the resurrection of the dead. Jesus conquered death on Easter morning when he came back to life after having been killed by his enemies the previous Friday.

Jesus promises us that because he lives, we too shall live. (John 12:46) He says he is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6) Every Sunday is a celebration of this hope.

Yes! Please do.

Jesus said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) God also praised a young leader in the church for “From childhood he had been acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15) Our service and ministry is designed to reach all people, that includes the littlest ones. We look forward to welcoming you and are happy to answer questions you have to help you and your family feel welcomed into the church family.

Jesus once compared himself to a physician who came for the sick. We come from many different backgrounds, but we all have something in common. Our lives are filled with struggles. We are far from perfect. Coming to church means gathering with people whose lives are imperfect and filled with struggles, just like you.

We strive to be a church where our teaching and worship matches what is plainly written in the Bible. We do this because we believe the Bible is God’s holy word and because in it you will find hope.

Upon entering you will receive a service folder designed to guide and explain what is happening.

Everyone.

Nearly a third of the world’s population identifies as Christian. We are the most diverse community in the world. The Bible is the number one bestseller of all time with more than 5 billion copies printed according to a study done by the British and Foreign Bible Society. It is also the most translated book in the world. The entire Bible has been translated into over 700 languages. The New Testament portion of the Bible, which includes the life of Jesus, has been translated into over 2,000 languages.

God tells us he doesn’t change. What he wants from us doesn’t change. What he’s done for each and every one of us also doesn’t change. Jesus said, “ I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” Every single person you meet or simply walk past is loved by God. Every person in the world can get to know God through the Bible, God’s word.

Thus, Christianity is for everyone.

WELS Church is a registered charity (1202120) throughout England and Wales. The Charity’s objects are the advancement of the Christian religion for the public benefit in accordance with the doctrines of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Holy Word is a ministry of WELS Church.

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Early Christians were famous for their hospitality. In fact, it was Christians who established the first hospital in Caesarea in 369c.e. Nursing, orphanages, and formal education for all are just a few concepts developed by Christians.

We strive to be a church of word and deeds. For this reason, part of our ministry is to partner with local charities and work together to meet the needs of people in our communities without regard to race, creed, social status or the like. This is part of our effort to live out Jesus’ commands to love our neighbour.

No problem! We’re blessed to live in a diverse world with so many languages. It’s our goal to spread these teachings to all nations as instructed by God. Please contact us if you’d like assistance in communication or or translations.

God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of Him. Coming to church is a wonderful way for anyone to get to know God.

The Lutheran church is an evangelical (“gospel”) church.

The Bible defines “the gospel” in two places:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (1 Corinthians 1:1-5)

To be a Lutheran church means of this gospel to be central and of first and utmost importance. Here is a summary that Lutherans have used for five hundred years.

Our first and chief article is this:

1. Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24-25).

2. He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

3. All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25).

4. This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us. As St. Paul says: For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28) That he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:26)

5. Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31). For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) And with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

There are two kinds of Lutheran churches: Confessional & Liberal. Holy Word is a Confessional Lutheran church.

Confessional Lutherans understand, with Luther, that everything we believe and do as Christians flows from the central and primary truth that we are justified by faith.

Faith is trust in God’s Word. God appointed an office of Ministry to preach this Word and administer his Sacraments (1 Timothy 3). The Holy Spirit works through the Word and Sacraments to create faith in us.

God has given us His Word in the Bible, and so the Bible is the only rule and norm for Christian doctrine (Revelation 22:18-19). The Bible is only rightly understood through the lens of justification by faith (2 Corinthians 3:12-18).

We therefore subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions collected in the Book of Concord, which means we believe, teach, and confess them as a faithful exposition of the Scriptures.

Within the Book of Concord, the Small Catechism is an introduction to our teaching of the faith.

Here is a summary of what you can expect to hear:

God’s Word speaks to us in two ways: Law (command) and Gospel (promise).

1. The Law is summarised in the 10 commandments. They describe how we must live: We should trust and love God (1) so that we pray (2), listen to his Word (3), honour those in authority (4), not harm but help others (5), keep sexual activity purely for heterosexual marriage (6), not steal but give (7), honestly speak in the best way of others (8), and not craftily seek to get our neighbour’s house (9) or anything that is his (10).
   
   Attached to the first commandment is God’s summary of the commandments: If we break them, he will be angry and punish us. But, if we obey them, he will be kind and bless us.
   
   All of us break these commandments all the time. And so, without Jesus, everyone is lost and condemned.

2. The Gospel is summarised in the Apostles’ Creed. The gospel is God’s pure unmerited Grace.
   
   God the Father made us and preserves us without any merit or worthiness in us.
   
   God the Son, Jesus Christ, being true God and true man, bought us with his blood, died and rose again, setting us free from sin, death and the power of the devil to live in his kingdom and serve him.
   
   God the Spirit calls people by the Gospel, gives them faith, gathers them as the church, which he keeps in the faith, and on the last day will raise up all the dead and give eternal life to all who believe in Jesus.
   

3. The Lord’s Prayer is how we respond to God’s Grace by speaking to him as our true Father, and so ask seven things: his Word to be taught in truth and purity (1), his Spirit to give us faith in his Word (2), we would remain steadfast in his Word and in faith (3), to give us everything we need (4), to forgive us because of his grace not because we deserve it (5), and to keep us from temptation (6) and evil (7).

4. Baptism is God’s Word connected to Water [Matthew 28:19], it works forgiveness of sins [Mark 16:16], not because of the water but only because it is God’s Word received by faith [Titus 3:5-8], and signifies a daily drowning of the old Adam in us by repentance and a daily new person rising from death [Romans 6:4].

5. Confession is the power of the keys given by Jesus to the church [Matthew 16:19], so that by confessing our sins the confessee receives absolution from the confessor, as from God Himself, helping us firmly believe that our sins are forgiven.

6. The Sacrament of the Altar is God’s Word connected to bread and wine. It is the true body and blood of Jesus under the bread and wine [Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25], it gives us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, not because of the eating and drinking but only because it is God’s Word received by faith, and so is only received worthily by faith.

7. Daily Prayer in the Home is an essential part of our Christian faith. So we use, recite, and sing God’s Word daily in our homes, and keep reminding ourselves of God’s Word to us in our Baptism by saying the Baptismal formula and crossing ourselves as a reminder of this formula.

The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference is a worldwide fellowship of Lutheran church bodies, committed to the teachings of the Lutheran Church found in the Book of Concord of 1580. Established in 1993 with thirteen churches, the CELC has grown by God’s grace to include thirty-four church bodies today.

Members from at least seven CELC churches live in the United Kingdom. The desire to serve these members and reach out to the people of the United Kingdom with the gospel is what led to the launch of the Holy Word church and ministry. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), is one of two American church bodies who are members of the CELC, and is the church body who most closely worked with locals in the United Kingdom to launch Holy Word.

To learn more about CELC, visit:
https://celc.info

Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults.

Jesus says in Matthew 19:14, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

As followers of Jesus, we recognize that God has a special place in his family for children, and we strive to value and protect them in every way possible.

See our full Safeguarding policy document here.