What is an LCMS Lutheran?
What is an LCMS Lutheran?
In our first two episodes of “The Theology Minute” we have identified the historical foundation of the Lutheran Church and the foundational theology that stands at the core of our identity. But what makes an LCMS Lutheran distinctive?
Did you know that there are over 40 Lutheran denominations in North America alone? And despite our common heritage dating to The Reformation, there are a variety of differences between the two groups. Some of those differences are simply heritage, where our history begins, but sometimes there are also differences in our theology that set us apart even from other Lutherans. (Did you know that SYNOD means “walking together”?)
One of the distinctives about the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod simply comes from our history as German Lutherans who settled in the midwest. In the 1830’s, like many other Christians, a group of Lutherans from Saxony and other parts of Germany came to the New World to find a place to freely practice their faith. In 1847, 14 congregations scattered across several states from New York to Missouri joined together to form an official organization. They called the Rev. Dr. C.F.W. Walther to serve as the first president of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and other states. In 1947 it was shortened to Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
The origins of the LCMS aren’t so much about theological differences as they are about heritage. We began as a group of independent German Lutherans joining together to support each other and strengthen the work of missions in what was still a very new nation. The history of the two other largest Lutheran denominations, the ELCA and WELS have very similar beginnings with a significant number of Norwegian Lutherans in the ELCA and a group of Germans settling in Wisconsin with WELS. Over time other groups of Lutherans have merged with all of these different groups, adding to their numbers and presence in increasingly larger parts of the nation.
One example of growth by merger can be found in our two non-geographical districts, the English District and the SELC District. While the LCMS presence in the United states is broken up into regions (West-Southwest, Great Plains, Great Lakes, East-Southeast, and Central) and then further into geographical districts (NW District, Texas District, Rocky Mountain District, etc), two of our districts are not part of any geographical region. The English District for example represents 159 congregations scattered across 22 states and even part of Canada. They were an independent group of English speaking Lutherans (as opposed to the Germans speaking LCMS) founded in Missouri in the late 1800’s. They joined the LCMS as a “district” in 1911.
The SELC district (originally the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church) were, you guessed it, formed of Slovak immigrants and joined the LCMS is 1971. They kept their churches as a district.
Hertiage and immigration is one of the major defining charateristics of the LCMS as well as other Lutheran denominations. Next time we will look at how, even though we share a Lutheran heritage with 40 other Lutheran denominations, we don’t all have the same theology.
Next- What are some theological differences between the LCMS and other Lutherans?
In our first two episodes of “The Theology Minute” we have identified the historical foundation of the Lutheran Church and the foundational theology that stands at the core of our identity. But what makes an LCMS Lutheran distinctive?
Did you know that there are over 40 Lutheran denominations in North America alone? And despite our common heritage dating to The Reformation, there are a variety of differences between the two groups. Some of those differences are simply heritage, where our history begins, but sometimes there are also differences in our theology that set us apart even from other Lutherans. (Did you know that SYNOD means “walking together”?)
One of the distinctives about the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod simply comes from our history as German Lutherans who settled in the midwest. In the 1830’s, like many other Christians, a group of Lutherans from Saxony and other parts of Germany came to the New World to find a place to freely practice their faith. In 1847, 14 congregations scattered across several states from New York to Missouri joined together to form an official organization. They called the Rev. Dr. C.F.W. Walther to serve as the first president of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and other states. In 1947 it was shortened to Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
The origins of the LCMS aren’t so much about theological differences as they are about heritage. We began as a group of independent German Lutherans joining together to support each other and strengthen the work of missions in what was still a very new nation. The history of the two other largest Lutheran denominations, the ELCA and WELS have very similar beginnings with a significant number of Norwegian Lutherans in the ELCA and a group of Germans settling in Wisconsin with WELS. Over time other groups of Lutherans have merged with all of these different groups, adding to their numbers and presence in increasingly larger parts of the nation.
One example of growth by merger can be found in our two non-geographical districts, the English District and the SELC District. While the LCMS presence in the United states is broken up into regions (West-Southwest, Great Plains, Great Lakes, East-Southeast, and Central) and then further into geographical districts (NW District, Texas District, Rocky Mountain District, etc), two of our districts are not part of any geographical region. The English District for example represents 159 congregations scattered across 22 states and even part of Canada. They were an independent group of English speaking Lutherans (as opposed to the Germans speaking LCMS) founded in Missouri in the late 1800’s. They joined the LCMS as a “district” in 1911.
The SELC district (originally the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church) were, you guessed it, formed of Slovak immigrants and joined the LCMS is 1971. They kept their churches as a district.
Hertiage and immigration is one of the major defining charateristics of the LCMS as well as other Lutheran denominations. Next time we will look at how, even though we share a Lutheran heritage with 40 other Lutheran denominations, we don’t all have the same theology.
Next- What are some theological differences between the LCMS and other Lutherans?
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