The Lutheran Synod of Buffalo, founded in 1845 as the Synod of Lutheran Emigrants from Prussia (german: Synode der aus Preussen ausgewanderten lutherischen Kirche), was commonly known from early in its history as the Buffalo Synod. The synod resulted from the efforts of pastor J. A. A. Grabau and members of his congregation in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

, along with other congregations, to escape the forced union of Lutheran and Reformed churches in Prussia by immigrating to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, and to

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, in 1839. Grabau and the largest group settled in Buffalo. Internal disputes regarding theology and practice led to a major schism in the 1860s, with the departing congregations joining other, existing synods, rather than forming their own. In 1930, the synod merged with the Ohio Synod and the Iowa Synod to form the first instance of the

American Lutheran Church The American Lutheran Church (TALC) was a Christian Protestant denomination in the United States and Canada that existed from 1960 to 1987. Its headquarters were in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon its formation in 1960, The ALC designated Augsburg ...

(ALC). The latter body, after further mergers, became part of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

in 1988. In 1929, just before its merger into the ALC, the Buffalo Synod had 45 pastors, 54 congregations, and 7,981 members.

Notes

References

* * {{refend

External links

* Kriegbaum-Hanks, Susan
A Brief History of the Old Lutheran Immigrants and the Buffalo Synod: 1838 - 1867
History of Christianity in the United States Evangelical Lutheran Church in America predecessor churches Lutheran denominations in North America Religious organizations established in 1845 Lutheran denominations established in the 19th century 1845 establishments in New York (state) History of Milwaukee