Please join us for worship each Sunday at 10:15 am.
Our Pastor
Ben Kratz has served as the pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church since July 2003. The son of a Lutheran pastor, he graduated from Martin Luther College in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received a Masters of Divinity from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, WI, after four years of post-graduate work. His rigorous track of pastoral education included eight years of work with the Greek language (the language in which the New Testament was originally written), six years of work with the Hebrew language (the language in which the Old Testament was orginially written), and a year-long internship at Mountain of the Lord Lutheran Church in Wausau, WI.
Pastor Kratz is married with 7 children and lives in Chelsea, AL.
Our Story
Our Savior Lutheran Church was founded in 1969 and moved to the southside of Birmingham in 2006 to reach out and serve the residents of Shelby and Jefferson counties. With an emphasis on the word of God, relevant preaching, and outreach, our church has grown in size but our core beliefs haven't changed a bit. We focus all we do on God's word, proclaiming forgiveness to our friends and neighbors.
But our local church has broader reach than just Shelby and Jefferson counties. Through our partnership with our national church body, we can help spread God's kingdom throughout the world.
Our Savior 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. Today, it has over 1200 congregations in North America., almost 400,000 baptized members served by over 1000 pastors, and missionaries serving in more than 25 foreign countries.
Our Beliefs
We are a Biblical church giving God's word first place in our faith and life.
We are a Lutheran church that proclaims forgiveness for all through Jesus Christ.
We are a Christian church that gathers to praise God, to be strengthened by his word, and to reach out to those around us in Christian love.
If you are interested in a more detailed examination of our beliefs, download one of the PDFs below. "This We Believe" is a statement of beliefs from our national church body, and the Augsburg Confession is the historic document teaching what Lutheran churches believe, teach, and confess.
