The English District is one of the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). It is one of the Synod's two non-geographical districts, along with the SELC District. The district presently has congregations in the states of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, New York,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, as well as the Canadian province of

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. The district has its origins in the congregations of the former English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and Other States, which merged with the LCMS in 1911. The English Synod had been formally organized in 1888 out of the English (Evangelical) Lutheran Conference of Missouri of the

Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod The Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod (1820–1920), commonly known as just the Tennessee Synod, was a Lutheran church body known for its staunch adherence to the Augsburg Confession and commitment to confessional Lutheranism. The synod began ...

History

Prior to 1839, a group of Lutherans of the

moved from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee to southeast Missouri. In 1872, a free conference was held in

Gravelton, Missouri Gravelton is an unincorporated community in northeastern Wayne County, in the U.S. state of Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for ...

, with participants from that group, the LCMS, the Holston Synod, and the

Norwegian Synod The Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called the Norwegian Synod, was founded in 1853. It included churches in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. History In February 1853, several Lutheran ministers in ...

. The LCMS president, C. F. W. Walther, urged the Tennessee Synod members to organize themselves as a conference of the Tennessee Synod, the English (Evangelical) Lutheran Conference of Missouri. The conference applied for admission to the LCMS as a district in 1887, but was advised to instead form a separate synod because the LCMS was still a German-language synod while the conference used English. The conference therefore organized as the independent English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and Other States in 1888. The English Synod was in full agreement with the LCMS on doctrine, and joined the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference in 1890. In 1911, with members of the LCMS itself becoming at least bilingually English-speaking, the English Synod merged into the LCMS. However, because it wanted to maintain its identity, it was accepted as a non-geographical district. Despite the transition of the LCMS to English, the English District has continued as a separate district. The English Synod operated two colleges, both acquired in 1893. In 1908, it gave St. John's College of Winfield, Kansas, to the LCMS. Concordia College of

Conover, North Carolina Conover is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,421 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Hickory– Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area and Charlotte Metropolitan Area. History The City ...

, was transferred to the LCMS at the time of the merger. Both colleges have since closed. '' The Lutheran Witness'', the main lay-oriented magazine of the LCMS, was originally published, starting in 1882, by the Cleveland District Conference. The English Synod took over publication in 1888, and it became an LCMS publication upon the 1911 merger.

Current status

The district now includes approximately 159 congregations and missions in 17

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s and the Canadian province of

, subdivided into 25 circuits, as well as 36

preschools A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

, 15

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and one

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Baptized membership in district congregations is approximately 48,600. English District offices are located in

Farmington, Michigan Farmington is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 10,372. It is surrounded by Farmington ...

. Delegates from each congregation meet in convention every three years to elect the district president, vice presidents, circuit counselors, a board of directors, and other officers.

Bishops/Presidents

* Henry Philip Eckhardt, 1911–1912 * M. S. Sommer, 1912–1915 * John Adam Detzer, 1915–1918 * O. C. Kreinheder, 1918–1927 * Guido R. Schuessler, 1927–1936 * Paul Lindemann, 1936–1938 * Martin Walker, 1938–1945 * Herman William Bartels, 1945–1951 * Hugo G. Kleiner, 1951–1963 * Bertwin L. Frey, 1963–1970 * John H. Baumgaertner, 1970–1974 * Harold L. Hecht, 1974–1976 * George W. Bornemann, 1976–1984 * Donald F. Jung, 1984–1986 * Roger D. Pittelko, 1986–1997 * David H. Ritt, 1997–2006 * David P. Stechholz, 2006–2015 * Jamison J. Hardy, 2015–present Hecht was one of four district presidents who were removed from office by Synod President J. A. O. Preus on April 2, 1976, for non-compliance with synodical directives on the ordination and placement of improperly endorsed ministerial candidates from

Seminex Seminex is the widely used abbreviation for Concordia Seminary in Exile (later Christ Seminary-Seminex), which existed from 1974 to 1987 after a schism in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The seminary in exile was formed due to the ong ...

Notes

External links

English District web site

LCMS: English District

LCMS Congregation Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:English District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod districts Christian organizations established in 1911 1911 establishments in North America