Our Beliefs

The best way to learn about what Shepherd of the Hills teaches is our Faith Foundations class. 

CHRISTIAN - We believe that God solved mankind’s problem of sin by sending Jesus Christ into the world to live a perfect life in our place, die on the cross to pay for our sins, and rise from the dead to guarantee eternal life in heaven to all who believe.

BIBLICAL - We believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and thus the only objective source of truth in the world. The Bible is first and foremost a book of good news, about how God designed and implemented his plan of salvation by sending Jesus to be our Savior. The Bible is the only place in the world we find this message of grace, and so the Bible is the ultimate authority for everything we believe, teach, and do.

CONFESSIONAL LUTHERAN - This means we believe that the teachings of the Bible are correctly represented in the Lutheran Confessions (found here.) These documents were prepared during the Protestant Reformation, a time in church history when God led believers back to his Word and to the historic faith taught by Jesus and the apostles. While times have changed since the writing of these documents (c. 1580 A.D.), the timeless truths of Scripture have not.  For a clearer and more modern explanation of these same biblical truths, click here.

WELS - We belong to an international church body known as the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). It is the third largest Lutheran church body in America. Being part of a larger church body allows us to be part of ministries that extend far beyond our doorstep here in Knoxville. The ministry of the WELS includes a robust worker training system, humanitarian aid efforts, and extensive mission work, both in North America and around the world. You can learn more about the work of our church body here.