Core Values
What’s in a name? What’s in our name? Our name was inspired by the olive trees that line our property and also to coincide with that place of Biblical History, the Mount of Olives. In the Bible, names mean something: It identifies the source, the character, the personality of the one named. Who are we?
Mount Olive Lutheran Church and Preschool
Mount – A Mount is high, visible, and solid. A mount or mountain is a landmark clearly seen from great distances that identifies a place, and is a guide for travelers to know where they are and where they are going. By climbing the mount, a traveler can gain a new perspective and easily see the direction they need to go.
Olive – A fruit of the Olive Tree is a staple of life in the History of God’s People, food that can sustain the people. It’s a provider of oil necessary to keep lanterns burning in the darkness, and for anointing saints and kings alike.
Mount Olive – A high place outside Jerusalem named for the Olive Tree Groves that adorned it. It’s a place from which the Holy City could be seen by all who stood on its ground.
Lutheran – Yes, This name matters, though it isn’t always understood.. Here it is known that we preach, teach and confess (And live out in our lives) Grace Alone, Faith Alone in Christ Alone as revealed to us and for us in Scripture Alone. Here we proclaim the Gospel (definition, “good news”) of Christ as He and His Disciples proclaimed it and where we administer and live out His Sacraments as He taught us and commands us to do. We trust in His Word, All of His Word, and in His Word only. “Lutheran” should be a name congruent with the Gospel of Grace as Jesus proclaimed it and commissioned his disciples to share it and teach it.
Church – The Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ. A people chosen by God to be a Royal Priesthood, to be and to do as Christ has taught us and asked us to do in His Name according to His Mercy, Love, and Compassion. The building is not the church, but a place where ministry happens. His church gathers in this place to hear His Word and receive His gifts. It is a place where we comfort and console one another. It is a place where we rejoice and give thanks together for we know that this place is where we know for certain that the Holy Spirit can be found. The campus is a place for learning and for teaching. And also a place for healing and caring for Body, Mind and Spirit that we would grow in Strength that we may Love and Serve God with all the more Mind, Heart, Soul and Strength as we are encouraged to do in the Words of Christ.
Preschool – A place of learning and growing for our community’s young children. A safe place to discover and experience the things of this world and God’s World. Teaching and preparing and growing these children as good citizens of the Two Kingdoms. Tending also to the needs of the parents and the families to aid them and support them in all that is needed to be family in today’s difficult culture.
And – Too often we can view ourselves either as a school, or as a church, depending on what brought you here. We must not fall into that trap. We are always BOTH! NO, more than that we are ONE and the SAME! We are a place of learning for our preschool children past and present, and for all their siblings, and for their parents and extended families, and for our congregation members and all of their core and extended families, and to/for our community and their families We are also and always Christ to all and each other.
Mount Olive Lutheran Church and Preschool; May our Name live out in our lives, and may our lives live out in our Name.