The constitution of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod was signed on April 26, 1847 in Chicago, Illinois. That means today we celebrate this synod’s 179th birthday. Since my schedule is once again filled today as we travel around the state of Minnesota, I am sharing this brief post that was written in 2016, the first year of this blog. I did not include this drawing of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Chicago where the meetings were held to adopt that constitution.
As is stated in this post, East Perry County cannot claim that it is the birthplace of the LCMS. At best, we can say that we were one of the important locations in the United States that made significant contributions to the formation of the synod. I could argue that the pastors who came to the United States as part of the Gesellschaft in 1839, provided a larger than normal percentage of the leadership that led to its formation. Names like Loeber, Walther, Keyl, Fuerbringer, Buenger, and Brohm were all involved in the discussions that led up to the writing of the synod’s constitution which was signed on this date.
I will be occupying the pew at Zion Lutheran Church in Mayer, Minnesota this morning. Although I am not familiar with this congregation’s history, I know that it has been around for a long time, and I am almost certain that it has been part of the LCMS beginning at the time when it was organized. I also know that there was once a circuit rider who traveled through areas of Minnesota and helped establish many LCMS churches who was a descendant in the Buenger family tree.