The preamble to Mount Carmel’s Bylaws is a statement of Mount Carmel’s Heritage of Faith. This is a description of who God has made us to be at Mount Carmel.

PREAMBLE: Mount Carmel’s Heritage of Faith

We are thankful at Mount Carmel for our heritage of faith.

We are thankful for the entire message of the Bible, God’s Word. We believe that the whole Bible points to Jesus, who is Himself the Word of God.

We look back to the faith of Elijah on that mountain in Israel – Mount Carmel. Elijah challenged 400 false prophets to a contest on the mountain. Elijah prayed, “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God.” After Elijah prayed, fire came down from heaven and the people declared, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” The name of our camp was selected in a desire to continue the heritage of faith and prayer displayed at Mount Carmel. You can read the entire account in 1 Kings 18.

We look back to the Mount of Transfiguration, where three of Jesus’s disciples saw his glory as he was talking with Elijah and Moses. A cloud appeared and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my own dear Son. Listen to Him!” The disciples looked around and they saw only Jesus – “Jesus only.” That is our emphasis at Mount Carmel – to focus on Jesus.

We welcome all people to Mount Carmel, believing that God’s Love in Jesus reaches out to all. We encourage everyone to listen to the Bible’s teaching.

We celebrate our unity with all followers of Jesus Christ, encouraging all Christians to join us in our ministry at Mount Carmel.

We look back to the early church, and we celebrate the church’s recognition that Jesus is truly God and truly human, and that God has been revealed to us as one God in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We look back to the Lutheran Reformation in the 1500’s and we celebrate its emphasis on Christ Alone, the Word Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, the proclamation of Law and Gospel, and the theology of the cross.

We look back to the Scandinavian revivals in the 1800’s with their emphasis on the awakening of personal faith in Jesus and a commitment for living that faith in daily life.

We look back to the founding of the Lutheran Bible Institute in 1919 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Lutheran Bible Institute called itself “A Bible School and Missionary Training Center.” We want to continue to be a place of “Bible, lay, and vocational ministry training” to equip people to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ.

The Lutheran Bible Institute started holding summer Bible classes at resorts around the Twin Cities in the 1920’s. In the 1930’s it started holding these summer Bible classes at Lake Geneva Conference Center in Alexandria. Then in 1938 the school bought our current property on Lake Carlos and began their summer Bible classes here.

In 1985 the Lutheran Bible Institute’s school in Minneapolis closed. Mount Carmel became an independent Christian ministry. Mount Carmel chose to be interdenominational, welcoming teachers, preachers, and guests from a variety of Christian backgrounds, while maintaining our emphasis on faithful Biblical teaching.

In the 1990’s Mount Carmel started using The Daily Texts from the Moravian Church as a devotional tool to focus our minds on God’s Word each day of the year.

We look forward to our future, trusting that by God’s Grace and the power of the Holy Spirit we will remain faithful to Jesus and the Bible.

Click here to read about Mount Carmel’s Teaching Guidelines.