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History
MISSOURI SYNOD LUTHERANS
WHO WE ARE
In Alaska, a congregation uses a tiny trailer
for its office. Another, in Texas, renovates a multi-building complex,
fully intending to use every bit of space in what was once the world's
largest auto mall. In Hawaii, members in bright print clothing worship
outdoors; in Wisconsin, they don their "Sunday best" to
worship in the 156-year-old brick and stone building built by their
great-grandparents.
Whether they gather in small, white-frame churches
next to century-old cemeteries or in new, soaring, glass-and-steel
worship centers, they share a common confession centered in the
Gospel--the Good News: "For God so loved the world that He
gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not
perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). With 2.6 million
others, these are the people who form a church body called The Lutheran
Church--Missouri Synod.
It is in the congregation that Christ gathers
His people around God's Holy Word--to hear it proclaimed, to study
it, to proclaim it in worship. In the congregation, through the
water and Word of Holy Baptism, God claims each child--young or
old--as His own, calling them by name and bringing them into His
kingdom. In Holy Communion, Christ is truly and essentially present
under the bread and wine, given to His people to eat and to drink,
for the forgiveness of their sins, for life and for salvation.
United for a purpose
Little did they know what they started!
On April 26, 1847, 12 pastors representing
15 congregations signed a constitution that established "The
German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States."
Meeting in Chicago, they had traveled by horseback, stagecoach and
boat from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and
New York. (Also attending were 10 advisory pastors, four laymen,
two theology candidates and seven guests.)
They were men of faith and conviction. Some
were German immigrants who had come to the United States to preserve
their Lutheran confession of the faith, free from government intervention.
They were stirred for mission, especially to reach German immigrants,
and, for some, the desire to bring the Gospel to Native Americans.
In its 150th year, The Lutheran Church--Missouri
Synod (the name was shortened on the 100th anniversary) counts 2.6
million members in 6,145 congregations. The original constitution
was written in German (and German continued to prevail in worship
and writing until World War I). Today, the list of pastors includes
names like Schmidt and Nguyen and Perez and O'Connor and Zyskowski
and King and Pacilli. While English dominates now, on any given
Sunday, there may be worship in at least 20 different languages--including
Spanish, Hmong, Eritrean, Russian, Finnish, Slovak, Chinese, even
German.
Adapted from A Week in the Life of The
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, copyright 1996, Concordia Publishing
House.
For
more about Lutherans and about the history of our church body, see:
"The
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod: A Brief History."
Constitution
of First Lutheran Church, Chattanooga Tennessee
ByLaws
of First Lutheran Church, Chattanooga Tennessee
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